I Don't Know
by Jelp
Summary: After poor Hinata gets harassed by Sakura to ask Naruto out, Hinata stumbles through the awkwardness of trying to ask out the boy - now man - that she has liked for years, with a few mishaps and plotting friends along the way. Naruto/Hinata
1. Chapter 1: Go Get Him

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 1: Go Get Him**

"I don't know," Hinata said rather shyly. In reality, she wanted to say no, but didn't quite have the nerve to say it.

"Hinata! You _have_ to tell Naruto how you feel about him," Sakura said, sounding rather annoyed, but trying to be patient.

"I don't understand why you're trying to get me to say _that_ to N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said, trying and failing to keep the creeping misery out of her voice. She didn't understand Sakura's sudden interest in trying to get Naruto and herself together. For the past nine years since Sakura had been placed on Naruto's team, she had felt that the pink-haired girl hadn't really noticed her. She hadn't even been aware that Sakura was informed of her crush on Naruto until just two days ago when Sakura had begun to pester her about asking Naruto out.

"Ino told me that Shikamaru told her that Kiba was complaining about the fact that you have liked Naruto for years and have yet to ask him out. I hadn't realized that you liked him! I mean, I noticed that you were shy and friendly around him, but you're always shy and friendly around most people," Sakura stated bluntly.

Hinata's face fell. She had always hoped that Naruto would just figure out that she had feelings for him, but if Sakura, the intelligent young woman that she was, hadn't figured out that she liked Naruto, how did she expect Naruto to figure it out? Then again, Sakura still couldn't quite seem to take the hint that Sasuke did not like her, so perhaps it wasn't as hopeless as she thought.

"I still don't understand why you want me to say something to N-Naruto-kun, though," Hinata said. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"He's too dense to realize you like him. You have to tell him! Once he sees he has a chance with someone else, he'll stop asking me out!" Sakura said. Hinata's face fell even more. Sakura seemed to realize that she had stuck her foot in her mouth and hastily continued. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was, I think the only reason he asks me out is because he thinks I'm the only girl that will like him. If he realizes that you like him, I'm sure he'll be thrilled," Sakura said earnestly.

"I don't know," Hinata repeated. She nibbled on her lip and pressed her two pointer fingers together as she wished that Sakura would leave her alone.

"I've got it!" Sakura said excitedly. "I'll tell him for you!" she said brightly. Hinata's face turned even paler than normal.

"No!" Hinata squeaked out. Sakura grinned at Hinata mischievously.

"I'll give you a week. If you haven't done it by then, _I'll_ tell him," Sakura said, grinning widely. "Sasuke-kuuuuuuun!" Sakura called suddenly, waving her hand in the air as she spotted Sasuke walking in the opposite direction behind where Hinata stood. "I'll talk to you later Hinata," Sakura beamed as she called out for Sasuke again. Hinata watched miserably as Sakura chased after Sasuke, idly wondering if she really could see a vein throbbing in Sasuke's forehead from this far away as he stopped to turn down his female teammate's offer to go on a date.

It was weird that Sakura was pestering Sasuke like that. Hinata knew that Sakura had had a crush on Sasuke for _years_, but this was the first time since before Sasuke had left for Sound that Sakura had acted so – so – so _fangirlish_. It was a bit unnerving. Hinata felt like she had gone back in time, wondering why the usually intelligent, mature woman that Sakura had grown into had seemed to convert back into her twelve-year-old self. Something was definitely odd with the situation.

Shaking her head, Hinata began to walk back to the Hyuuga complex, still nibbling on her lip, a less obvious nervous habit than placing her index fingers together, but it tended to hurt her lip after a while. She sighed as she walked through the gates, thinking about what Sakura had said to her about telling Naruto about her feelings. Hinata really wanted to tell Naruto that she liked him, and maybe, just maybe she could finally do it with some encouragement.

But whom was she kidding? She had tried for years, and he didn't seem to realize her attention. He probably didn't want it either. Hinata bowed her head slightly. No, Naruto was a very popular shinobi now, a jounin, and it was quite obvious that he was favored to become the next Hokage. She couldn't help but smile at that thought, thinking about how far her beloved had come. Why would he want to go out with her, when he could have anyone he wanted? Well, except maybe Sakura.

And would she really be happy knowing that Naruto really wanted Sakura anyway? And that she was just second choice? Hinata lowered her head down further because she could honestly say that yes, yes she would be happy because she would be with Naruto.

How she wanted to be with the one she loved so desperately, even if she was only his second choice!

Hinata walked through the entranceway of the Hyuuga complex, almost running into Neji as he walked out.

"G-gomen nasai!" she apologized as she side stepped Neji gracefully, blushing at their near collision. She began to move on, when his grip on her arm made her pause. She was almost frightened because of all the times in her youth when he had been cruel to her, but the feeling passed as soon as she saw the concern in his eyes.

"Hinata-sama, what's wrong?" Neji asked concerned.

"N-nothing," she stammered out, and slipped through his grip and headed inside the house. As she went past Hanabi's room on her way to her own, she heard some whispered murmurs, and she frowned. She knew that Hanabi was not allowed to have boys in her room (despite the fact that her little sister was now 18[1), but Hinata was not going to turn her sister in. Part of her actually hoped that Hanabi would get married first, and perhaps take over as head of the Hyuuga clan. Hinata entered her room, and slumped onto her bed, deciding she would go to bed early and wake up even earlier to train in order to clear her mind.

Hinata's internal clock woke her at around 3:30am. It was still dark out, and the moon's cycle had already passed in the sky. She had very little light to guide her to her usual training grounds by the river nearby, but she preferred it that way. She used her byakugan to guide her way.

Her solo training was one of the few times that she truly felt worth something. She knew that she would only ever feel worthy to be with Naruto if she was an apt shinobi, and it was the one thing that kept her going in order to be worthy of him. _He_ believed in her. Her Naruto-kun believed in her abilities as a fighter, and she would not let him down. It was his belief that gave her strength, and she felt more powerful every day just by knowing that he thought she was worth something.

She trained for several hours before returning to the Hyuuga complex. The air was crisp and cool, and she enjoyed the way it felt on her as it cooled her down from her training. She jumped on the wall outside of the Hyuuga complex, half meditative as she watched the sunrise.

"You seem more flustered than usual," Neji said, drawing Hinata out of her meditative state.

"Neji-nii-san," she said in way of greeting.

"You also look tired. Were you training this morning, or did you just not sleep well?"

"Training."

"Were you training because you felt the need, or because you couldn't sleep well?" Neji asked.

"T-training because I-I always need to train," Hinata stammered, feeling as though Neji wasn't going to leave her alone. Clearly he had not been satisfied when she had told him that nothing was the matter yesterday.

"I see," Neji said, his voice maddeningly calm, and Hinata wondered if he knew that the tone of his voice made her want to spill out all of her concerns to him. Knowing Neji, he did.

"Do you need to train to be a better shinobi for yourself-"

"Of course-"

"-or do you need to train to be a better shinobi for Naruto?"

"W-what do you mean? I need to train to be a better shinobi for myself and for my village," Hinata squeaked out.

"From what I hear, Tenten says that Sakura has been harassing you to finally ask out Naruto," Neji said. Hinata looked down at her feet as they swung off of the wall.

"Does everyone know I like Naruto-kun?" Hinata mumbled.

"Everyone except for Naruto, I think," Neji said, his voice amused and his smile rather smug. "He's very good with getting people to like him, but he's not very good at seeing the obvious."

"Don't say that about Naruto-kun!" Hinata said, her voice defiant, finally raising her eyes to look directly at Neji. Neji's smile only grew wider.

"It's true. You just don't want me to say anything negative about your precious 'Naruto-kun,'" Neji taunted, but then his face grew more serious, and his tone became more gentle. "Hinata-sama, you must realize that as your twenty-first birthday approaches so rapidly that the clan elders will want to see you married. You have pined over Naruto since you were a child. At least take your fate into your own hands and tell him how you feel. You owe yourself that much."

"I don't know that I can. I've been trying for so many years, that I don't think I ever will," Hinata said sadly.

"I never thought I would be able to feel a true part of the Hyuuga with the caged bird seal, but with Naruto's help, I overcame that. Don't you think that with Naruto's help, you could find the courage to tell him how you feel? Don't you owe him that much? Don't you think he deserves to know that someone has cared about him since the time that they were children?" Neji asked. Neji looked at the top of the rising sun. "It's strange to think how much he has affected this village, and how many people have been changed for the better because of who he is. But I think it's also strange how very few managed to affect him the same way. There are only five people that I have been able to determine that have affected him so deeply. The first is our old teacher, Iruka-sensei. From what I can gather, Iruka-sensei was the first to really recognize Naruto, well, besides you. However, since you never spoke up, I don't think he ever knew that."

"I-I don't think it would have mattered much to him if I had told him," Hinata mumbled out. Neji shook his head and continued.

"The second has to be Uchiha Sasuke. The two of them are very close, and they relate well with each other. The third is Gaara. They were both jinchuuriki, and they shared their burden alone and connected with each other through their shared pain. The fourth might be Lee. Naruto seemed encouraged by Lee's enthusiasm to want to fight no matter what and his inability to ever give up. The fifth person that I believe has affected him is you, Hinata-sama."

"M-me?" Hinata stuttered out. "But I never-"

"During the Chuunin exams, he rooted for you. He cheered for you against me, and jumped down to engage me in battle after you passed out-"

"He-he did?" Hinata asked breathlessly. Neji nodded.

"He dipped his fingers in your blood, and promised that he would beat me. And he did," Neji said. "That was something so important to him that he made a blood oath. Naruto has trouble seeing the obvious, but he's very attentive to the quiet suffering of others. I think he saw your suffering, but I think what caught his attention above everything else was how you dealt with your suffering. You used one of _his_ quotes against me, did you not?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"And I think he was flattered by it. I might not need to tell you this, but Naruto does seem to like attention."

Hinata smiled in spite of herself. Yes, that was true. It was so obvious how he always used to get into trouble just to be noticed. Sometimes she wished she could have asked him to stop because it seemed to hurt him in the long run just for the cheap laughs. She wanted to tell him that she had paid attention to him; she paid attention to him all the time, even when he wasn't causing trouble: especially when he wasn't causing trouble because no one else was looking at him, and she didn't feel like if he caught her looking at him, he would just think she was looking at him for his silly antics. Still, she always wondered if he had caught her staring if he would have understood or cared. What did it matter if she was the one staring at him? Didn't he want Sakura to be the one staring at him?

And it was these types of depressing thoughts that always made Hinata never want to tell Naruto about her feelings.

"But it's not me he wants attention from nii-san," Hinata mumbled sadly.

"It's rather hard for him to know who you are when you're so quiet all the time. Change his mind. I'm sure you're capable of doing so," Neji said firmly. "Also, if I'm not mistaken, Naruto has not been chasing after Sakura as enthusiastically as he used to when he was still just a genin," Neji remarked, clearly realizing she was worried about Naruto's well known interest in Sakura.

"I-I don't know if-" Hinata said, but Neji interrupted her.

"You won't know anything unless you go after him," Neji said, his voice rising slightly in irritation, and Hinata didn't continue her point. She could tell that Neji was trying to help her, and all her negativity to what he was saying was clearly aggravating him. She couldn't blame him. Here he was trying to help her, and she was shooting down his attempt to give some encouraging advice.

"I'll talk with Naruto-kun," Hinata said, fixing her head up, and nodding firmly, hoping her resolve would last.

"Just think of your own insecurities as your enemy. Would you let your enemy ever hurt Naruto or yourself?" Neji asked. Hinata shook her head. "Then don't let them hurt you – or Naruto either." Neji left without saying goodbye, and Hinata sat on the wall for a few more minutes in contemplation.

"I can do this, I can do this," Hinata said, and she leapt off the wall in search of her precious Naruto-kun.

**Next Chapter: Girls And Boys**

* * *

[1 Hanabi isn't really only three years younger than Hinata, but please bear with the minor change in age as it is necessary for the plot.

Each chapter of this fic is/was written as my beloved watched over my shoulder. It is dedicated to him, as he encouraged me to write it, my precious Jim-kun.

(And this is just for my own personal gratification, but today, 2/6/08, is my seventh year on FanFiction dot Net! Happy anniversary to me, lol.)

Expect updates every Wednesday! - Jelp


	2. Chapter 2: Girls and Boys

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 2: Girls and Boys**

Hinata was somewhat ashamed to admit that there were a few "important" things that when it came to Naruto, she just couldn't remember when they had first occurred. For instance, she couldn't even remember when she had first gotten a crush on her beloved Naruto-kun, the class clown. She couldn't remember the first time that she had decided that her crush had become something more – blossoming into love. Neither could she remember the first time that she had desperately wished that Naruto would come home from his long training all those years ago, just so she could see him again.

But Hinata could remember the very first dream that she had that had made a very lasting impression on her young mind, a dream that was far from innocent.

It was this dream, and it was with those very vivid images in her mind that prevented her from going through with trying to speak with Naruto when she found him after Neji's encouraging words to find the blond.

Hinata had found Naruto in less than ten minutes after she had set off from her home. She had one of those strange inklings that he would be training near the river that she often went down to train at herself. Her instinct had been correct.

Hinata could only conclude that Naruto had been training for some time because when she got there, he was clearly taking a break. Taking a break in the water. Taking a break in the water with his orange jumpsuit on the bank by where he was. Hinata stopped dead, looking at the discarded jumpsuit, her eyes going wide as she slowly turned her head to where she could clearly see Naruto's head visible above the water.

Her mind flashed back to images of a recurring dream with Naruto. It started out exactly like this. She would find Naruto's jumpsuit on the bank of a river, and then notice him in the water. She would look over to him and just his head would be visible to her. He would notice her, call her name, and then emerge from the water, dripping wet, the water sliding over his chest, his hair plastered to his face. His smile would be wide and mischievous, but his body would be positioned in such a way that she would know that he wanted to be mischievous in a very, very naughty way indeed.

And of course, he would be buck-naked.

So when Naruto turned his head, seeing her on the bank of the river, and decided to wave at her merrily, Hinata's entire body froze as her mind registered that Naruto's jumpsuit was not on his body at the moment. He emerged from the water, dripping wet and-

Hinata woke up to the feel of water dripping down on her face. She opened her eyes groggily to notice that Naruto was looking down at her concerned.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto asked, frowning. Hinata felt the heat of her blush fill not only her face but her entire body at her actions as she noticed that he was wearing his boxers and seemed anything but aroused at their current situation.

"Y-yes, Naruto-kun," Hinata squeaked out rather miserably. Naruto offered her a hand, and helped her to her feet, still frowning at her.

"You know, I've never met someone who faints as much as you do. Do you have some sort of illness or something? I'm sure Tsunade-baa-chan could help you fix whatever's wrong with you," Naruto said, putting his finger to his lip, looking up thoughtfully.

'Fix whatever's wrong with me?' Hinata thought to herself. 'You're what's wrong with me,' she was half tempted to say, but she didn't mean it in a bad way.

"I-I'm not ill," Hinata mumbled.

"You look really flushed though. Usually you're so pale like your eyes, but you look kinda feverish or something," Naruto said worriedly. Hinata could only stare in mute fascination as Naruto raised his wet hand to begin to feel her forehead to check for a fever. Hinata could feel her body temperature rising at the contact. Naruto nodded to himself, seeming to have confirmed that she did have a fever. Hinata had a feeling that she was just warming because of how near Naruto was to her, especially since he was only in his boxers. And dripping wet.

"I'm fine," Hinata managed to get out without stuttering around her beloved. She honestly didn't stutter as much as she used to: only when she was talking about or to Naruto. The fact that she had managed not to do so when he was half naked was a feat indeed.

"Have you had anything to eat yet today?" Naruto asked curiously.

"No," Hinata said, realizing that she had in fact not eaten anything before or after training.

"You should join me for a breakfast of ramen at Ichiraku!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "A good bowl of ramen, especially Ichiraku ramen, will cure whatever's making you sick. Unless it's just that you haven't eaten, because that's not good either," Naruto said, nodding his head firmly as he crossed his arms for emphasis.

"Join you for breakfast?" Hinata said breathlessly. She knew that he wasn't asking her out on a date or anything, but he was still asking her, _her_, Hinata, to join him for a meal. "Okay," she said barely registering what was going on. Her mind was in such a state of happy euphoria that she didn't even get a chance to watch Naruto put back on his jumpsuit. In fact, she was hardly aware of walking from the river to Ichiraku ramen. The next thing she remembered clearly was having a bowl of ramen placed before her.

"Ittadakimasu!" Naruto said enthusiastically before diving into his own bowl of ramen, blowing on it for about two seconds before shoveling it into his mouth. Hinata couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"So Naruto, I see you brought along a young friend," Teuchi, owner of Ichiraku ramen said kindly to Naruto. Hinata's hand froze mid-motion, her chopsticks suspended as she looked from the owner to Naruto, half mortified.

"Yeah! This is my friend Hinata. She looked pretty bad this morning," Hinata's self-esteem took a drastic dive at this comment, "and I figured that ramen would make her healthier. She looks so much better when she's smiling," Naruto said, flashing a smile at Hinata before returning to his meal.

Hinata almost groaned. He did this all the time. He would insult her (unknowingly), and then say something that made her feel like she wanted to fly. She clearly remembered the time before his match at the Chuunin exams when he had told her she was "gloomy, timid, always terrified and basically completely weird," and then had proceeded to say "But you know what? I actually like people like you!"

Teuchi gave her an encouraging smile, and it seemed like he too knew of her crush on Naruto. Did everyone in Konoha know except Naruto? Hinata wondered if her own father knew. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Looking down at her ramen, Hinata decided that she really didn't need to talk to Naruto in private about the fact that she liked him because it seemed like everyone knew. Perhaps if she did it now with others around, they would help to encourage her.

"N-Naruto-k-k-kun," Hinata said, gulping, and nibbling on her lip because her fingers were currently occupied with her chopsticks, preventing her from pressing her index fingers together. "I-I, uh, l-l-l-l-" Oh why couldn't she get the words out? Naruto turned towards Hinata, his gaze kind and curious.

"You what Hinata?" Naruto prompted. Hinata gulped again.

"I-I...l-l-like," she could do this, she knew she could, "l-l-like-"

"You like ramen?" Naruto asked, trying to fill in the gap, thinking she was trying to make him guess. She shook her head. Naruto blinked. "How can you not like ramen? You're eating it right now!" Naruto said, frowning at her.

"I mean, I-I like ramen, but I l-l-like-" 'Come on, just say it!' Hinata scolded herself.

"You like..." Naruto frowned at her, and then he smiled and sat up straighter. "Oh I get it! You want me to guess what you like!" Naruto said. "Hmm, let's see, well, you like ramen, which I knew because you're smart and all smart people like ramen..." And with that, Naruto began rambling off a list of things ranging from kunai to flowers that Hinata could possibly like, and all Hinata could do was nod or shake her head feebly. Teuchi shook his head, and then gave her a hand motion behind Naruto indicating that he thought Naruto had been hit in the head one too many times during his missions. Hinata's face fell. Naruto was not dumb. He was actually very smart and good at coming up with battle plans. He just was unable to tell when a girl was hitting on him. He was as impervious to understanding when a girl liked him as Sasuke was impervious to letting a girl like him.

"Wow Hinata, that was a great game to play! I learned a lot about you," Naruto said brightly. Hinata blinked, and she realized that she had indeed given him more information today about herself than she ever had before. "I didn't know you liked to take care of plants. I do that too! (1)" Naruto said enthusiastically. Hinata was slightly surprised to learn that Naruto also liked horticulture. She actually hadn't known that about Naruto. "You should come over to my apartment tomorrow. I have this really neat plant. I haven't been able to identify what it is. Maybe you could help me," Naruto suggested cheerfully. Hinata merely nodded before Naruto mentioned having to go meet Sasuke to "kick his prissy ass" and bounded off.

Then reality seemed to sink in. Naruto had invited her over to his apartment tomorrow. She was going to go to Naruto's apartment. Where Naruto lived. Where he slept. Where his bed was. Hinata was glad she was sitting down because she was afraid she would have fainted again.

"Hinata!" Hinata nearly fell over at the loud squeal behind her. It was a testament to how shocked she had been that she hadn't notice the brightly colored pink hair appear before her.

"Hello, Sakura-chan," Hinata said, wondering if she could slink away now before she got the third degree of Sakura asking her questions about Naruto. Seeing Ino flanking Sakura, she knew she would have no such luck. She gulped, knowing that if Sakura was with Ino, something was up. "Hello Ino-chan," Hinata added.

"Hey Hinata! I hear that Sakura is finally pushing you to tell Naruto that you like him. Well it's about time! I mean, Naruto is pretty dense and all-"

"No he's not," Hinata chimed in, but Ino went on as if she didn't hear her.

"-but he's gotten a lot cuter now that he's older. Still not as good looking as Sasuke-kun, but I'm sure Sasuke had some influence on Naruto's personality, so that's a plus too." Hinata frowned, thinking she wouldn't waste her breath explaining that she liked Naruto for who he was, and not because he had been "influenced" by Sasuke. Still, remembering hers and Neji's conversation from earlier that morning, she supposed that he and Naruto were pretty close.

"Anyway, we came here to ask you something. When you were talking to Naruto, did he mention anything _juicy_?" Sakura asked. Hinata blinked. She thought Naruto had asked her if she liked oranges, but she wasn't sure, and she had a feeling that wasn't the type of juicy Sakura was talking about either.

"No," Hinata said slowly.

"He didn't mention anything besides the two of you?" Ino asked, looking slightly crestfallen. Hinata shook her head. Sakura and Ino both sighed, and then turned back to Hinata.

"Well, at least that means he's paying attention to you," Sakura said brightly before waving and walking off. Hinata watched them leave unsure of what had just transpired.

"I told you forehead girl that Sasuke wouldn't tell Naruto something like that," Ino hissed as the two walked away.

"And I told you Ino-pig that Naruto just wouldn't tell anyone!" Sakura said, their voices trailing off in the distance. Hinata shook her head, realizing that they were probably talking about Sasuke, but wondering what Naruto had to do with it.

Reality seemed to hit her again as she remembered that she was going to Naruto's apartment tomorrow. She was half tempted to call out for Sakura and Ino to come back and give her some advice, but then she wasn't sure if she really wanted it. They were nice when they wanted to be, but when they were in "Oh my God, I love Sasuke-kun forever!" mode, they were scary and rather incoherent.

Come to think of it, neither of them had acted this way for several years, and she wondered why their fangirlishness was surfacing all of a sudden. Whatever it was it probably had to do with what they were just (so strangely) asking her about.

She sighed and decided to head back to her house. Maybe Hanabi would be able to give her some advice on how to woo Naruto. She had a boyfriend now after all, so she must have either been wooed or done something to intrigue her boyfriend. Hinata sighed, remembering that Hanabi had said something about liking Konohamaru at some point and time, and she had a feeling that her sister had succeeded in snaring the young Sarutobi. Since Konohamaru and Naruto were very similar, perhaps her baby sister wouldn't mind sharing some sisterly wisdom with her older sister.

Hinata hung her head. She realized that it should be the other way around; that she should be the one giving advice to her younger sister, but she had to go to someone! Hinata walked back to her house, deciding she didn't really care too much about her pride anyway.

**Next Chapter:** **To Clean or Not to Clean? That is the Question.**

(1) Naruto actually does like taking care of plants aka horticulture. It's mentioned in the manga but not the anime. But if you're all diligent at watching Naruto, and you can recall the scene where all the jounins are in Kakashi's room after he faints from his encounter with Itachi, the plant between the two pictures of his genin team and his team when he was a genin was a plant that Naruto gave him.

I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Have a Happy Valentine's Day! - Jelp


	3. Chapter 3: To Clean or Not to Clean?

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 3: To Clean or Not to Clean? That is the Question.**

Hinata walked back to her house relatively quickly, glancing around as she went, wondering if she would run into Neji again. She didn't. She headed straight to Hanabi's room, only to realize that Hanabi was already busy with someone else.

Sighing, Hinata went back to her own room. Hinata nibbled on her lip, wondering how no one seemed to notice that Hanabi had her boyfriend in her room _yet again_ and wondered if Konohamaru was such a good shinobi that he managed to hide his presence. Unlike Naruto, she had heard that while he was a very good ninja, he still was not among the best that had graduated in his year. Apparently his teammate Moegi had become an excellent ninja instead, surpassing both her teammates.

Since Hanabi was busy, she wondered if she should ask Neji, but she wasn't sure how comfortable she was with doing that. Then again, she also wanted to know if Neji even knew that Hanabi was sneaking her boyfriend into her room. She knew that Neji had finally grown fonder of Hanabi than of her, and she had a sneaking suspicion that if he did know, that he was probably helping her. Hanabi was supposedly destined for the caged bird seal like Neji had been given, and perhaps he was trying to help her fight her battles within the clan.

Finally deciding that she would go find Neji to ask him a boy's perspective on how to be wooed (and other information on Hanabi), she exited her room and once again passed by Hanabi's door. She almost stopped dead at the sudden moans coming from her sister's bedroom, and she practically scampered on.

Perhaps she would have to seek out her baby sister later on and give her some sisterly advice after all. She honestly hoped Hanabi knew what she was doing! It was hard to imagine her sister (even though she was now eighteen) being..._intimate_...with someone else; she was also slightly envious. Hinata knew that Naruto had had several perverted teachers, and wondered how experienced her beloved was. Trying not to think of that depressing thought, she realized that after hurrying past Hanabi's door, she had made it to the other side of the complex in practically no time at all.

Hinata raised her hand to knock on Neji's door, but before she could knock, the door opened, and Neji made a hand gesture to let her know she was welcome to come in. His byakugan was activated, and she could tell he must have seen her coming in his vision. She entered as he deactivated his byakugan.

"Do you know what Hanabi-sama's been up to?" Neji asked frowning, and Hinata blushed, wondering what it would be like to see two people making love in her byakugan vision. It was something that most Hyuuga members tried to avoid doing. Since there were so many byakugan users in one place, to protect people's privacy, most tended to avoid looking in the direction of people's rooms just in case they were...busy.

"I could, uh, hear them," Hinata said blushing.

"What were they doing?" Neji asked, frowning. Hinata pressed her fingers together and realized that she was being too overtly insecure. She settled for nibbling on her lip again.

"What do you mean? Couldn't you see-?"

"No. That is why I was concerned. What do you mean _them_?" Neji asked. Hinata faltered. She had come here to discuss her problems with Naruto, not to get her sister in trouble. Here she had thought that Neji knew about what Hanabi was up to, but apparently she had been wrong. Not only did he not know what was going, but apparently, Hanabi was somehow blocking his byakugan from her room. Hinata wondered how to word her response so as to not get her sister into trouble.

"She and her friend were doing some basic e-exercises in her room," Hinata said, patting herself on the back. Sex was still a form of exercise as far as she knew. Neji gave her one of those searching looks that he was so good at to make her feel intimidated, but he didn't pursue the matter.

"Seeing as how you came to my room, and seeing as how you seem less than interested in talking about Hanabi-sama, my guess is that you didn't come here to talk to me about her as I first presumed. Perhaps Naruto then?" Neji asked simply. Hinata blushed and nodded. Neji smirked. "I hear that you're going over to his apartment tomorrow to look at a plant," Neji said. Hinata's eyes darted up surprised that he knew that.

"How did-"

"I ran into Naruto on my way home. He asked me if I thought you were the kind of girl that would mind seeing a messy apartment. I told him no. Normally I am sure you would mind, but seeing as it is Naruto, you probably do not really care so much," Neji said, his smug little smirk becoming even smugger. "I see you finally decided to try and go on a date, but to want to go back to his apartment already, I am a little surprised with you Hinata-sama," Neji teased. Hinata's face turned beet red, and she began a string of stammering all at once.

"No-not, I m-mean, plants, and n-no, I don't mind m-messy, but, I mean, just f-friends, we're looking at his p-plant, I mean, a plant of his that's r-rare, and, nothing b-b-bad like that, and- and-" Hinata trailed off flustered. Neji chuckled amused.

"He told me you were going to his apartment to help him identify a plant. I did not realize he was a horticulturalist," Neji remarked. Hinata blinked, her mind finally calmed down as she realized that Neji was just teasing her. She was glad that she had never had an older brother to torment her on a regular basis. "And you came here to ask for some advice?" Neji asked. Hinata placed her two index fingers together, and then quickly stopped the gesture. She worried her lip instead.

"Y-yes," Hinata nearly squeaked out. Despite the teasing, Hinata was glad that Neji seemed willing to help her anyway.

"My suggestion is to tell him how you feel about him," Neji said bluntly. Hinata nearly groaned. She had been trying to do that for nearly _nine_ years. She had a feeling it wasn't going to get any easier.

"I've tried. I tried today. All I got out was that I like plants, and that he knows I like juicy oranges," Hinata said. Neji raised his eyebrows questioningly, and Hinata explained how her confession had turned into a guessing game of what she liked, and then she explained about her run in with Ino and Sakura.

"Try something a little more simplistic. After your 'date' tomorrow, tell him that you really enjoyed spending time with him," Neji suggested. Hinata nodded. She could do that. In fact, that sounded like a perfect idea! Perhaps, if he noticed that she liked spending time with him, and hopefully that he liked spending time with her, maybe he would come to like her as well.

"Thank you!" Hinata said beaming. Neji nodded once. Hinata gave him a small wave and headed back to her room, excited. Telling Naruto she liked spending time with him would be so much easier. Hinata stopped dead in her tracks upon hearing more moaning, forgetting that Hanabi still had her "friend" over. She promptly turned tail to find her former genin teammates to train with instead of being in the room next to her hormonal younger sister.

* * *

"I hear you're going over to Naruto's apartment tomorrow," Kiba grinned at her. Hinata blushed, wondering why everyone seemed to know already. "I ran into Naruto on his way back from the store. Something about purchasing some cleaning supplies for when you come over," Kiba said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Are you and Uzumaki finally dating?" Shino asked in a drawl.

"N-no," Hinata stuttered out.

"I hear you got one week or Sakura blabs," Kiba said, grinning.

"What?" Hinata asked surprised, again wondering where Kiba got his knowledge from.

"Chouji was complaining about it. Apparently Sakura and Ino are conspiring over Sasuke again, and so Sakura is sharing all of her juicy gossip with Ino in hopes to make some connections. Ino then somehow thinks Shikamaru and Chouji would actually care about the gossip, and Chouji was whining about it loudly when he was at the barbeque place twenty minutes ago," Kiba explained.

Hinata felt her face go beet red again. Why did everyone seem to know what was going on with her and Naruto? She sighed. Apparently even though Neji had told Naruto that she wouldn't mind a messy apartment, he was still cleaning up anyway. She wondered why. He didn't really seem like the kind to usually care.

"I wonder why he's cleaning his apartment for you," Kiba mused out loud Hinata's own train of thoughts. He then grinned at her wickedly. "Unless of course he likes you and wants to impress you." Hinata's face turned even redder.

"I-I don't think t-that's the case," Hinata mumbled. She honestly didn't believe that Naruto liked her as more than a friend – at least, at the moment.

"Have you two forgotten that I'm here? We should be training," Shino said sulkily. Kiba and Hinata shared a mutual look that said they should get training before Shino started to get cranky. He was an unusually sensitive guy and hated being ignored – and especially forgotten about, like when Neji, Chouji, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Naruto had all gone after Sasuke without him when Sasuke had left Konoha, or when Naruto came back after two and a half years of training and didn't recognize Shino right away.

* * *

"I heard Neji telling Naruto that he didn't think you would mind a messy apartment, and I stalked him down afterwards to tell him that he should immediately go out and get something to make his apartment look presentable. I don't think he realizes the prestige and honor of the Hyuuga clan," Ino said, flipping her long ponytail behind her shoulder.

After training, Hinata had decided to go past Ichiraku ramen to see if she could spot Naruto. On her way, Ino had seen her across the street and had told her of what she had seen pass between Neji and Naruto.

Hinata wondered if there was some sort of conspiracy going on with everyone butting into what she was doing. Everyone really did seem to know that she liked Naruto. At least they were helping her out. Sort of.

"I really wouldn't have minded," Hinata said. Ino waved her hand around dismissively.

"Maybe not, but you have to start training guys early just in case you want them to clean later on," Ino said kindly, as though Hinata were not informed of the many different ways of how to handle boys. Hinata didn't think she really needed to handle Naruto; he was perfect to her as he was. Well, that wasn't quite true. She would change his feelings to loving her if she could control that, but that would just be forcing him, and she didn't really want that.

"Oh," Hinata responded, not really sure what else to say since Ino clearly had thought she had done Hinata a favor. She was just trying to help after all.

"And if you two get a chance to talk, if you think of it, will you ask Naruto what Sasuke's been up to recently, and why he seems to be less, umm sulky than normal? Not that Sasuke being less sulky is a bad thing, but it is unusual. And, well, it's just weird to see him looking so happy without knowing why," Ino said.

Hinata nodded. She couldn't recall seeing Sasuke look anything close to what people would consider "happy," so she could see why it might have made the girls start going all gaa-gaa over Sasuke again. They were probably jealous that whatever was making Sasuke happy had nothing to do with them.

"Thanks Hinata-chan! You know, a couple years ago I would have said to try and find someone better than Naruto, but he's much better looking now, and he seems to have matured and gotten a bit smarter. Good luck," Ino said, flashing Hinata a smile before bounding off.

Hinata continued walking to Ichiraku to see if Naruto was there. She looked in the booth but didn't see him, but the owner was kind enough to tell her that he had just left less than a minute before. Hinata quickly looked up and down the street, and saw a very noticeable orange and black jumpsuit mixed in with the crowd. She bounded after Naruto, but stopped short by his side, wondering what on earth she was going to talk to him about. Luckily he seemed to notice her.

"Hi Hinata! I'm glad I saw you. About tomorrow," Naruto began, and Hinata's face fell. He was going to cancel on her; she knew it. "I ran into Sakura and she told me that I should clean my apartment for when you came over, and I'm not even sure how she knew you were coming over in the first place, but then I saw Neji and I asked him if you would mind, and he said that he didn't think so. Then Ino came over right after that and told me I had better clean my place for you because you were a Hyuuga and Hyuuga's should be treated better. Well, as I was buying some new cleaning supplies – did you know that those things actually expire? – I got to thinking, Neji had said he didn't think you would mind, and _he's_ a Hyuuga. Then I thought maybe it was just Hyuuga girls that Ino meant, but then I wasn't sure if Ino really knew what she was talking about at all. Kiba saw me and I explained what was going on, and when I asked him if you would mind a clean or messy apartment, he just sort of laughed at me and walked off. Then I got to thinking that I should really probably clean my apartment anyway, but just for future reference, do you care if my apartment is messy or not?" Naruto asked. Hinata blinked at Naruto.

"What?" Hinata asked, and Naruto was kind enough to repeat his whole encounter again. Hinata merely nodded, finally seeing why Naruto had been concerned about the whole apartment in the first place. Hinata nearly felt like laughing. She really didn't care about his apartment, and she felt bad that he had thought that she would. Poor sweet Naruto-kun. Still, something inside her warmed as the thought that he went through so much trouble for her anyway.

"I don't mind at all," Hinata said. "Just be yourself." Naruto grinned broadly at her.

"I knew you were cool Hinata! I have to go find Sasuke now. That bastard was supposed to train with me earlier, but he never showed up. He's been...uh...busy lately and tends to forget training every now and then," Naruto said, smirking. "See you tomorrow Hinata!"

"Bye!" Hinata said to him, smiling at him. Hinata couldn't stop smiling the whole way home.

**Next Chapter: Plants and Fainting**

Hope you guys like Chapter 3. :-) As usual, the next update will be next Wednesday. Please let me know what you think of the story! - Jelp


	4. Chapter 4: Plants and Fainting

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 4: Plants and Fainting**

"This is my apartment. I haven't been in this apartment very long. My old apartment complex was deemed unsafe, go figure, so they ended up having to shut it down. It wasn't much, but, you know, it's where I grew up and all, so I was sad to see it get boarded up," Naruto explained as Hinata walked into Naruto's apartment, breathing in and out slowly. 'I will not faint, I will not faint,' she chanted mentally to herself, hardly listening to what Naruto was saying. She was in Naruto's apartment – with Naruto! It was almost too good to be true. However, her heart was fluttering much faster than normal, and she knew it was due to the setting of being where Naruto lived.

A hand waving energetically in front of her face brought her back to reality.

"Are you okay? You're looking really pale, you know, even more pale than normal. Want to sit down or something?" Naruto asked worriedly. "Yesterday you looked really flushed and today you look really pale. You must be sick. You should have Sakura-chan or Tsunade-baa-chan do a check up on you," Naruto said worriedly. Hinata hardly knew why she was nodding her head to this statement as Naruto took her gently by the arm and led her to sit down on his couch.

Naruto handed Hinata a drink of water before then picking up a potted plant from his windowsill, putting in down gently on the floor by the couch. Naruto sat down next to Hinata, and Hinata felt her body temperature rise as Naruto's body touched hers. He seemed completely unaware of how his close contact affected her and began to talk to her about the plant.

"Obviously it's a grass-type plant, but it's really interesting. The leaves were initially green when I got it, and I thought it was just a normal green-type, but then the leaves turned black! I thought it was dying or something like that, but it keeps growing, and it has a very healthy shine to it as well. The blades feel nice and waxy, and nothing seems dry. And then, to my surprise, just a few weeks ago, it bloomed white flowers with a hint of pink to them. I know it's a grass, but it has flowers on it too! I thought it might be a cross between two types of plants, but then the flowers produced these little black fruits with seeds. It has to be a purebred plant or else the fruits would be sterile and seedless. I figured it out it has to be a black grass of some kind, but I can't figure out what type! Do you have any ideas?" Naruto asked, turning his head to look at Hinata, noticing her color had returned. "You look much better now. Less wishy-washy," Naruto added. Hinata could merely nod.

Hinata had been able to tell that it was a black grass as well, but as to what type, she was flabbergasted. Naruto was not deterred. He had scrolls of information, and with Hinata's help, it took less than half an hour to determine that it was an ophiopogon planiscapus, variation nigrescens 'Edge of Knight' plant, also called Black Mondo Grass. It was a sport of Kokuryu wisteria, also known as "Ebony Knight."

"You're really cool Hinata. Most people think this is boring, but I really like plants. I like to talk to them. Someone once told me when you talk to plants it helps them grow. I used to talk to them all the time when I was younger. You know, it was just nice to be able to talk to something, but I really do help them grow. I mean, the fact that we give them our carbon dioxide, and they give us oxygen is a good conversation, don't you think?" Naruto asked. Hinata smiled and nodded.

Having something to research with Naruto had been fun, and she felt even more relaxed than she had expected to. She knew there were plenty that found plants boring, but not Naruto. She was a little saddened to realize that he had started to buy and talk to plants when he was younger because he had no one else to talk to. It made sense why he had gotten into plants, but it was still sad to think of Naruto as a lonely little boy with no one but his plants to talk to.

"You always looked so lonely on your swing at the Academy. I heard you talking to yourself sometimes. Were you talking to the tree that the swing was on?" Hinata asked, and then realized that she had just confessed that she used to watch him when he was at the Academy. She hoped this would be one of those instances where Naruto overlooked what she had said, but no such luck. He frowned at her and narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

"How'd you know that?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Hinata gulped, and looked down at her hands. She held them tight together to try and stop her fidgeting.

"I well, I uh, used to watch you at the A-Academy all the time b-because you seemed so lonely l-like me. I was always t-too afraid to talk to y-you though," Hinata confessed, hoping Naruto wouldn't think that she was a weirdo for stalking him as a child.

"You used to watch me?" Naruto asked, looking at her, his normally bright features set in a mask of expressionless neutrality. Hinata nodded her head once, avoiding Naruto's sudden and unusually distant look. She wrung her hands together, wondering if he would kick her out. They had found the plant name after all, and she had clearly just made him feel awkward.

"Thank you," he said quietly after a few moments. Hinata looked at Naruto questioningly.

"Huh?"

"Thank you. I don't think you know how much that means to me, to have had someone notice me back...back _then_. It was not a time that I thought anyone cared about me or noticed me." He looked up at the ceiling, and he looked both sad yet regretful at the same time. "I used to be so angry all the time. I think I hated everyone, even myself. To know that someone didn't hate me back then..." he trailed off, and looked back at her. His serious expression suddenly vanished, replaced with a sheepishly grateful smile, "Well, it just means a lot," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head. "And I'm sorry I didn't notice that you were lonely too sooner. It would have been nice to have a friend back then."

Hinata sat in silence, rather unsure of what to do. Naruto seemed content to just sit beside her, staring off into nothingness, lost in his thoughts.

This was the second time in her life that she could remember Naruto confessing his fears to her, and it made her feel special. The first time that she could recall him saying something to her was when Naruto had been on his way to face Neji at the Chuunin exams when he was twelve. She and Naruto had spoken before the Chuunin exams, and he had actually confessed that he was worried that he wouldn't win against Neji. She remembered that even back then her words had comforted him…

_FLASHBACK_

"I know you can win, Naruto-kun. Remember that time that you cheered for me? I felt like, like I was able to become stronger than ever before. When the preliminaries ended, I was finally able to like myself a little. To anyone else, it might look like nothing has changed about me, but I feel different, like I'm a better person now. And I've been thinking that it's all thanks to you, Naruto-kun," Hinata said timidly, her face blushing as she remembered the way he had cheered her on.

"Ne, Hinata, do you really believe that's true?" Naruto paused, his face looking downcast. "I may look strong to you, but all I ever do is mess things up. I act tough because I'm so frustrated. Underneath it all, I just feel like I'm a huge failure," Naruto muttered.

"That's not true! Even when you messed up you were always a, a...how can I say this? A proud failure from my point of view. When I look at you, you just fill me with such admiration. I'm not saying that you're perfect – no one is – but when you do make a mistake, you have the guts to pick yourself up and keep trying. I think that courage, to keep going no matter what, is what real strength is. I just think that you're an incredibly strong person, Naruto-kun."

"Thank you, Hinata, I needed that. Even though I'm used to being the underdog, I guess this time I was just really feeling the strain. I was really down, which isn't like me at all, but I feel 100 percent better now!" (1)

_END FLASHBACK_

That had also been the time when he had told her that she was really weird, but that he liked weird people like her.

Hinata was brought back from her thoughts as Naruto chuckled next to her.

"Sorry for spacing out like that. Oh! Hey, do you want to see the rest of my place?" Naruto asked, jumping up from the couch, grabbing the plant and putting it back on the windowsill and reappearing in front of her in record time. He grinned at her, not waiting for an answer as he started to walk off. Hinata sat still for a moment, adjusting to Naruto's sudden mood swing and decided to follow him. He hadn't really given her a choice. Well, then again, he probably had; she just hadn't said no fast enough for the hyperactive ninja. (Not that she would have wanted to say no, but she was hesitant about seeing his bedroom.)

Naruto showed her his bathroom first which was decorated with lots of toad items. She had to smile, thinking of his toad summons, as she remembered seeing him and his precious "Gama-chan" toad wallet. He then showed her his hallway closet that was not filled with linens and normal hallway closet items, but rather rare and unusual flavored ramen on the top three shelves. There were also weapons on the bottom shelf and floor. Naruto _would_ put his weapons and ramen in the same place.

His kitchen was small, and unsurprisingly, filled with more ramen, and a few vegetables that looked old and wilted, clearly something that he hadn't bought but had probably been given to him by someone worried about his health. Then, he led her back to his bedroom. She stood in the doorway timidly.

"There's not too much in here, but I really like this bookshelf. Baa-chan gave me it with lots of scrolls and stuff she said I had to read up on if I want to be Hokage. I think she was trying to get rid of it so she wouldn't have to read them, but they're actually pretty interesting. Oh, and how could I forget! Sai came in here this weekend and painted a picture of Konoha over my bed. You gotta see it. He's such a good artist!" And before Hinata knew what was going on, she was being led from her safe place by the doorway, and practically pulled onto Naruto's bed. Before he had time to even begin to explain all the details of the painting, she had fainted.

The next thing Hinata knew, she woke up to a vision of Konoha above her. She blinked, trying to remember what had happened, and where she was. Her vision was suddenly filled with a mop of blond haired, followed by concerned blue eyes.

"Hinata! Are you okay?" Naruto asked worriedly. Hinata's eyes widened, realizing that she was _on Naruto's bed_, and _he _was leaning over top of _her_. If she wasn't mistaken, his body was practically _on top of hers_ as he looked at her concerned. So naturally she fainted yet again.

The next thing she knew she was once again waking up to the ceiling painted with Konoha above her, and the embarrassing memories of fainting not once but twice came back to her. Her breath caught as she darted her eyes around without moving her head, but she could already tell that Naruto wasn't on the bed with her again because there was no extra weight on it pulling her to one side or the other.

"I don't know what happened! One minute she was fine, and the next she fainted. I had pulled her down to look at the painting Sai did on my ceiling, and she passed out. I wonder if I pulled her down too fast on the bed and she got vertigo. She seems really fragile. What do you think Sakura-chan?" Naruto's voice came from over towards her right side, and she was even more mortified to realize that Sakura was now in Naruto's apartment – and bedroom – with them both.

"You baka!" Sakura bellowed, decking Naruto on the side of the head. "You don't treat a girl like that! You pervert!"

"Pervert?" Naruto asked, rubbing at the visible lump on his head. His eyes suddenly went wide, and he began speaking all in a rush. "Nani?! I'm not like that! I pulled her on the bed to look at the ceiling, not to, you know, I mean, I'm not like that. I'm not Ero-Sennin! I mean, okay, so I look at few girly magazines every now and then, but I mean-ow!" Naruto grunted as Sakura hit him on the other side of the head so that he had two matching lumps. Sakura's wrath faded as she noticed that Hinata was awake.

"Hinata, are you okay? Naruto was just being an idiot. He called me over because he was concerned with you fainting."

"I'm okay," Hinata said embarrassed. Sakura nodded, and Hinata had a feeling Sakura knew it was just because of Naruto's presence that had made her faint.

"Still, these should help with the fainting," Sakura whispered, handing Hinata a little bottle filled with pills. "Just take one when you're around Naruto."

"Hinata! I'm sorry. I'm not a pervert or anything I swear," Naruto said earnestly. Sakura rolled her eyes at him before telling Naruto to be more respectful, and then left. Hinata quickly got off of Naruto's bed. They both walked awkwardly to his front door. Naruto rubbed the back of his head, looking rather put out.

"Naruto-"

"I'm really sorry Hinata. I feel like such an idiot. Let me, uh, treat you to dinner or something. You like ramen, so, do you want to get Ichiraku ramen with me later on tonight, my treat?" Naruto asked. Hinata felt a strong urge to take one of the pills that Sakura had just given her as she swooned at the idea of him taking her to dinner.

"O-okay," Hinata managed to squeak. Naruto beamed at her.

"Great! It'll be a date. See you later Hinata!" Naruto said as Hinata walked out of his front door. It took Hinata two steps from his apartment after Naruto had shut the door for her to register his words.

"A date?" Hinata murmured to herself. She hurriedly popped one of the pills in her mouth before walking back to the Hyuuga complex.

**Next Chapter: A Date?

* * *

**

(1) This is the actual conversation that took place. I did not write it since it came from the anime/manga.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. :-) Let me know what you thought! - Jelp


	5. Chapter 5: A Date?

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 5: A Date?**

"You're going on a date with Naruto?" Hanabi asked her older sister. For once, it had been Hinata to inform someone of her developing relationship with Naruto. Her sister had (finally) been free, and she had gotten a chance to finally tell her all that had transpired in the past few days.

"I-I guess so, I don't know. It might just have been a figure of speech," Hinata said, wishing she knew what Naruto had been thinking. Hanabi grinned.

"You've been pining over him for ages. Just knock him out and drag him back here," Hanabi grinned. Hinata's eyes widened. She never would have imagined her (mostly) sweet and (formerly) innocent sister to be so – so brash and daring.

"I-I-I-I-"

"Don't get your panties in a knot. I was just teasing. You would never be able to hurt your precious 'Naruto-kun,'" Hanabi sing-songed Naruto's name. "If you want, _I'll _knock him out and bring him back here for you," she said grinning. Hinata's mouth dropped open and before she could form words to retort to Hanabi's comment, Hanabi spoke again. "I'm still joking. You really need to loosen up," Hanabi said frowning.

"Since when have _you_ been so loosened up?" Hinata asked. Hanabi blushed, and Hinata had a feeling she had worded her question a little lewdly, and Hanabi decided not to address the question, instead choosing to change the subject by giving her sister some advice about guys.

"It's funny because I never realized just how caring boys can be until my boyfriend showed me. My boyfriend doesn't seem like he'd be the type to be all touchy and feely and romantic, but he is. He's dealt with the death of family," Hinata nodded to this, thinking about the death of both Konohamaru's grandfather, Sandaime and then of his uncle Asuma. "He's dealt with a lot: like people just liking him for his name, but he's special. However, he told me that it was Naruto who really helped him change into such a caring person. I think Naruto sounds like a very caring person too, and I think all he really needs to like you back is to know that you like him first. He's a very open person, but for one so open he seems to guard his heart pretty well. Just tell him how you feel," Hanabi stated.

"That's what Neji-nii-san said," Hinata mumbled. "But it's so much harder to actually go through with telling him."

"Maybe so, but you're strong; you just need to be more confident about using your strength," Hanabi said.

"I suppose."

"Now, let's find something more appealing for you to wear. Even if guys say they don't care how a girl looks, it doesn't hurt to give them something really nice to look at anyway."

* * *

Hinata felt awkward as she walked to Ichiraku ramen, feeling somehow overly and under dressed all at the same time. She tugged down at the bottom of her short dress to keep it from riding up on her legs, and she wondered why she had allowed Hanabi to talk her into borrowing an outfit. She was dressed up in one of her sister's frilly and expensive dresses, and she didn't feel like herself at all. She adjusted her long hair to cover the front of her somewhat exposed chest, hiding her cleavage from view. Her now blue nail-polished fingers came up to rub at her eye where the foreign feeling of mascara and dark blue eye shadow made her eyes feel heavy and itchy. She also felt very blue; blue dress, blue eye shadow, blue nail polish, and of course, her naturally black-blue hair color. Maybe she should have gone with orange. She was pretty sure that was Naruto's favorite color.

Her nerves calmed down a bit as she giggled at the mental images of herself with bright orange hair and bright orange clothes.

Hinata walked into the small ramen stand, her eyes downcast, and her hands fidgeting in front of her. When she didn't hear a resounding voice calling out to her, she looked up to see that Naruto wasn't there yet.

"Hinata-chan! You look lovely," Ayume, the owner's daughter said kindly. She then smiled knowingly. "Are you waiting for Naruto so you two can have a date?" she asked. Hinata blushed, but didn't know how to respond. Naruto himself had said it'd be a date, but he could have meant it as a date between friends. Her blush deepened as she realized she didn't know how to respond to such teasing, and she was almost twenty-one. Hinata felt almost silly for never having been on a date before.

"Hiya Hina...ta..." Naruto had come bounding into Ichiraku's, but his jovial greeting died on his lips. Hinata turned to face him, only to see how dumbstruck he looked. He was staring at her openly, but he then seemed to realize that he was staring and looked away quickly, a blush forming across his cheeks and along the bridge of his nose. "Wow Hinata, you look really, umm, n-nice," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Hinata smiled shyly.

"Thank you," she said, glad for once she wasn't the one blushing and stuttering.

She sat down on one of the stools, and Naruto sat down next to her. He kept on giving her glances and kept on stopping himself when she noticed him staring.

"Your order?" Teuchi asked amused.

"What?" Naruto asked, and Teuchi chuckled.

"I think this is the first time you've come to my ramen stand and your mouth is watering for something other than ramen," Teuchi said. Naruto's face went beat red and he mumbled something. Hinata blushed slightly too as Teuchi nearly laughed again and said he'd whip up something for the "lovebirds."

"S-sorry about his comment," Naruto said.

"Huh?"

"You know, about us being lovebirds. I'm sure you wouldn't want to be a lovebird with someone like me. I know I don't know too much about it, but you're from one of the top clans, so, I'm sure you've already got someone lined up for marriage or something," Naruto said.

"Wh-what? No! Not at all! I mean I'm not betrothed or anything, and being mistaken for your girlfriend is fine with me," Hinata said and then realized what she said. Naruto turned to her, and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly again.

"Thanks. Wow, you really do look nice. Usually you're not one of those girls that goes all out to look top notch like Sakura or Ino, but you're really pretty when you put your mind to it," Naruto said. Hinata didn't respond, knowing that even though it had come out a little roughly, that was a great compliment from her Naruto-kun.

Dinner was slightly awkward, but not in that "wow I wish I was getting my teeth drilled out instead of this" awkward, but instead, just that awkward feeling that one gets on the first date with someone.

Naruto was very distracted through dinner, and Hinata couldn't help but giggle. Guys really were distracted by pretty girls, and she was glad that she was able to pull that off. Still, a part of her felt extremely uncomfortable with the idea that Naruto was only noticing her for her looks, but the other part argued that having a little attraction on top of the fact that they already got along pretty well didn't hurt.

Attraction was a big key to arousal, and arousals led to, well, Hinata blushed thinking about what her younger sister and her boyfriend had been doing in Hanabi's room just earlier that day.

Naruto paid, and the two of them left Ichiraku ramen. It was already getting dark out, but the air wasn't too cold. Depending on who you asked, one of the perks (or the problems) of living in Fire Country was the warm weather; it didn't really have four seasons. It had warm, somewhat warmer, unbearably hot, and back to that somewhat warmer climate. Right now they were in the "warm" season, the season that would be considered winter to others.

"I had a good time with you Naruto-kun," Hinata said quietly, remembering Neji's advice.

"It's hard to have a bad time when eating ramen," Naruto said, grinning over at her. He put both of his arms behind his head and walked next to her as though he didn't have a care in the world. Hinata knew that wasn't the case, but it allowed her to admire just how handsome he looked with his face set forward, his eyes sparkling, and a small, satisfied smile on his lips. "So why are you all dressed up?" Naruto asked curiously. Hinata blushed.

"We-well, Hanabi said, I mean, this isn't even my dress it's hers, I guess..." Hinata mumbled out, not sure what to say. She took a deep breath. If she ever wanted to be with him, perhaps some simple truths wouldn't hurt too much. "I thought maybe I should look kind of nice since you were treating me to dinner," Hinata said in a rush. Naruto looked over at her thoughtfully. He removed his hands from behind his head and put them in his pocket.

"You didn't have to do that. I'm not really all that fancy. I felt bad in the first place from earlier," Naruto explained. "But I guess your family has a lot of traditions and things they do that are fancy, don't they?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I suppose," Hinata said, and she could tell just by the tone in his voice that Naruto was curious about what her family was like. She felt bad that he never had one of his own. "Maybe," Hinata paused, wondering how on earth this would work, "maybe you could come over and spend the day at my house with the rest of my family. I-I know you didn't have a family growing up, so, I mean, if you wanted to see what it was like to be a part of one…" Hinata said trailing off slightly, not sure if she was going to offend him or not.

"Really?" Naruto asked. Hinata smiled. He seemed really enthusiastic about the idea.

"Yes. If you want to," Hinata said.

"I think that'd be neat to see how a shinobi family interacts," Naruto said. "The only family I really know the most about is the Uchiha family, and I don't think Itachi and Sasuke's relationship is a good basis for what I know about families," Naruto said, almost grinning. Hinata silently agreed.

"Want to come over tomorrow morning?" Hinata asked.

"Sorry, I can't," Naruto said. "Baa-chan wants me to do a mission. I don't know how long it will take. I'll find you after that, ok?" Naruto asked. Hinata smiled and nodded.

"Okay."

"Dang, speaking of the mission, I have to report to the Hokage office at 4am," Naruto groaned. "I should get going. I have to prepare for the mission and all still. See you later Hinata-chan!" Naruto said.

"Thanks for dinner!" Hinata called after him sadly, realizing this was the third time that he had remembered he had to do something and run off. She sighed. Still, the night had gone really well, and she supposed if Naruto weren't always on the move, he wouldn't be Naruto.

It was also nice to realize that she could capture his attention for as long as she did. She grinned, tugging down at the bottom of the dress again. She wouldn't wear things like the dress she was wearing often, but it sure was nice to know that she could at least fluster him as much as he flustered her.

She walked home with her head held higher than she had in a long time.

**Next Chapter:** **Father-Daughter Issues**

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please read and review. :-) - Jelp


	6. Chapter 6: Father Daughter Issues

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 6: Father-Daughter Issues**

"What do you mean I have a cute nose?" Hinata asked rather flabbergasted as she put her hand up to her face to pinch her nose.

"I mean what I said. You have a cute nose. Guys like weird things like that. They act all macho, and in reality a lot of them like girls with "cute" features. Being sexy is nice and all, but if a guy is smart, he realizes that sexy doesn't last as long as cute does. Of course, this is hoping that the guy likes you for who you are and yatta yatta yatta, but guys still like cute things. I think Naruto's the kind of guy that likes a girl for her personality and not her looks, but having cuteness can't hurt. Though, then again, Naruto probably doesn't judge a girl by looks at all. I mean, look at Sakura. He liked her, and she's not attractive whatsoever," Hanabi said.

"Hanabi! That's horrible. Sakura is very nice looking," Hinata said defensively. Hanabi rolled her eyes.

"If you like pink hair and a wide forehead maybe," Hanabi muttered.

"Hanabi!" Hinata said again.

"Geeze! You're trying to win this guy's heart, and you know he's liked Sakura for ages, if he still doesn't like her, and you're defending her? Where's your fighting spirit to capture Naruto's attentions all for yourself?" Hanabi demanded.

"I-I want Naruto to be happy, and-"

"Oh that's bull-- hi Papa," Hanabi said, her face going suddenly serious. Hinata turned around to see her father standing in the doorway of Hinata's room.

"Hello Papa-sama," Hinata greeted as well.

"What is this I hear about someone coming to spend the day here?" Hiashi asked. Hinata looked at Hanabi.

"I told Neji-nii-san and I guess he must have told Papa," Hanabi said, blushing slightly.

"Actually, I heard it from Lee. He came over to pick up Neji, and he was quite loud about saying it was about time that Naruto realized he should stop his pursuit on Sakura-san and go after the Lady Hinata since it was clear that she has had a crush on him for years. Is this so Hinata?"

In all of her lifetime, Hinata had been a very shy and bashful child. There were many occasions where she wished she could disappear. Now, hearing that her father knew that she liked Naruto, and having him confront her about it, well, she honestly could say that she had never wanted to disappear so badly before. She knew her face must be beyond red, and she could merely open her mouth. Not even a quiet gasp escaped her; her body was that frozen.

"_Papa_! We're discussing personal _girl_ stuff here. We'll get back to you later," Hanabi said. And with that, she got up off of Hinata's bed, smiled at her father, and closed the door on him.

A loud resounding crash was heard through the Hyuuga complex as Hiashi banged down his eldest daughter's door in order to yell at his youngest daughter.

* * *

"I never thought he would stop yelling at me," Hanabi said. Hinata, for her part, sat fixated on her bed. She wasn't sure if she was more in shock about the fact that her father had asked her whether or not she liked Naruto, or that her sister, her _baby-sister_, who until recently she considered to be rather sweet and innocent, had actually closed the door in their father's face.

"Why did you do that?!" Hinata finally shrieked. Hanabi almost jumped back in her shock at her sister's outburst.

"Simple. If Papa gets mad at me, he'll realize that there's no way I'd be better as the head of the Hyuuga clan than you will be." Hinata looked at her sister in utter shock and disbelief.

"Who are you? You can't be Hanabi. Kai!" Hinata said, using the seal that was used to release genjutsu, but nothing happened, and Hanabi sat before her. Hanabi sighed. She folded her hands on her lap, and looked down at them, a pose Hinata was much more familiar with.

"I know you saw it when you were younger how Papa would say things about you. About how he would say he didn't want you to be the head of the Hyuuga clan. He would make sure to say things to me loudly about how I would make a much better clan leader than you. For a long time, I believed him. I didn't want to have a caged-bird-seal placed on me like Neji-nii-san and the other branch family members. But he," and Hianta knew she meant her boyfriend, "really made me see how important family was. It didn't matter if I had a caged bird seal or not because you would never ever use it on me, and he said that Naruto had made Neji a promise about making sure that the caged-bird seal was outlawed in Konoha anyway," Hanabi said.

Hinata looked down at her hands. She and her sister had finally started getting closer in the past year, and she wondered if it had started when Hanabi had started dating Konohamaru. Hinata couldn't help but smile, thinking how Naruto had helped to influence so many, that even the people that didn't know him personally were still being affected by his kindness.

"So when is Naruto coming to spend the day here?" Hanabi asked. Hinata shrugged.

"I'm not sure," Hinata said. "He had a mission. I don't know if he's going to come over after it, or if he won't get done till tomorrow, or-"

"Hiya Hinata!"

Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Naruto's muffled voice. She gasped and turned to see him standing on her windowsill. Hanabi put her hand to her mouth to hide the indecent grin she got at seeing her sister's mortified expression.

"You should probably go through the front door," Hanabi said, also gesturing just in case Naruto could not hear her that well through the pane of glass. "If our father found out that you came in through Hinata's window, he'd be very upset with you," Hanabi said. Naruto scratched the back of his head as though he didn't quite understand why that would be so, shrugged his shoulders and left the window.

"Or he could just pop out of no where," Hanabi grinned.

"Oh no!" Hinata sighed. "I didn't think he'd be done this early. And he saw my room!" Hinata said.

"Unless you have a Naruto shrine in plain sight that I've happen to have missed, I think you're okay," Hanabi said as she helped her sister to stand from the bed. "You look fine, so I don't think that'll be a problem either."

"Why did you say he should go around front?" Hinata asked.

"It gives us more time to talk before he comes in. So, real quick: I think it's a great idea that you invited him over. He needs to get to know the Hyuuga family before they'll really accept him. That and I wanted to make sure that you took one of these before he came barging into your room. You'd probably faint again," Hanabi said as she handed her sister one of the pills Sakura had gotten for her.

"Where did you get those?" Hinata asked.

"I was digging through your stuff earlier," Hanabi said nonchalantly as the two of them left Hinata's room to go meet Naruto.

"What?"

"I'll tell you all about the interesting stuff I found in your room later. Come on. We better get to the door before Papa-"

"I think it's too late," Hinata said, her face horrorstruck as Hiashi himself had answered the door. Hinata and Hanabi had arrived moments too late to answer the door before her father had. His face was still somewhat red from all the bellowing he had done earlier, but Naruto didn't seem to realize that he was the next piece of meat on the menu. Hiashi had clearly asked Naruto something, and Hinata had a feeling that it had to do with her.

"Well of course I like Hinata. We're friends. I wouldn't have come over if we weren't," Naruto said, looking at Hiashi strangely, as though he wasn't sure if he liked him. They were staring at each other as though seizing the other up.

"Hello Naruto-kun," Hinata said quietly, half hoping that he wouldn't hear her, but his head turned to the side to look at her from the top of the steps. He grinned at her before turning back to appraise her father. Hinata was grateful that Naruto had long since (as far as she had seen) abandoned his habit of scrunching his nose and practically putting his face right into other people's faces because she knew her father would _not_ have appreciated it.

Hinata was pretty sure Naruto had stopped that when a second person had bumped him into Sasuke when he was staring at his friend. The result had been the same as the first time.

"Naruto," Neji said in way of greeting as he seemed to materialize out of nowhere. "I thought I felt your chakra. It's rather distracting while trying to meditate," Neji said, smiling ever so slightly. Naruto's face split into a grin.

"Yo Neji," Naruto greeted back. Hiashi removed his gaze from Naruto to look at Neji, then to Hinata, back to Naruto, and finally ended with a small glare directed at his youngest. Hanabi grinned sheepishly.

"Will you be staying for dinner?" Hiashi asked.

"Uh-"

"My sources inform me that your favorite dish is miso ramen. We will be having some tonight, so I assume you will be staying for dinner," Hiashi said. All three younger Hyuuga's turned to stare at Hiashi in surprise, and Naruto looked as though he wanted to take a step back at someone having "sources" about him. Then he seemed to realize it was free ramen.

"Yeah I'll stay, thanks," Naruto said. Hiashi nodded his head and left the room.

"Well that wasn't odd or awkward at all," Hanabi said sarcastically. Hinata was still blinking in surprise only to realize that Naruto was calling her name.

"Hinata, are you his source on me or are there people tailing me?" Naruto asked, honestly curious.

"That would be me," Neji said. "He came to me after Hinata and Hanabi were," he paused, looking at his two cousins curiously, "unavailable to answer questions about your arrival."

"Why would there be questions about my arrival?" Naruto wondered, shifting one foot to the other.

"You are a guest in the Hyuuga home. You were invited over. Not many people are invited into the house, especially not into the Head house by a Head member. Therefore, as such a guest, you are given special attention and treatment. Especially if there is any indication that you…" he trailed off, looking at Hinata.

Hinata gulped. She shook her head no, pleading silently with her cousin not to tell Naruto that he was being treated like he was because her father thought he might be a potential suitor. The thought didn't even strike her that it was a good thing that her father was being this concerned about Naruto. If she had stopped to think about it, she might have realized it meant that Hiashi considered Naruto to be worthy of special attention. Upon further examination, she would have realized that it also meant Hiashi approved of Naruto if she decided to pursue him as a love interest.

"You guys sure are a weird family," Naruto said, looking back and forth between Hinata and Neji. "Any indication that I - what?"

"You know Neji. He just likes to play mind games," Hanabi said cheerfully. "I don't think we've been properly introduced, though I've heard quite a bit about you," Hanabi said, grinning. Naruto grinned back at her, and for a moment, Hinata was slightly jealous as she saw some sort of strange understanding pass between the two. Then she grinned and realized Naruto obviously knew that Hanabi was Konohamaru's girlfriend.

"Neji-nii-san and I are going to meditate now," Hanabi said.

"I was not. I was going to help Hinata-sama take Naruto around-"

"Change of plans!" Hanabi called and grabbed Neji's arm. Naruto looked after them strangely, and Hinata could hear Hanabi scolding Neji. "Honestly, are you that dense?" and Neji's response of "Excuse me?" Naruto looked at Hinata, and Hinata laughed nervously.

"Hanabi's been acting very strangely lately. And, sorry about Papa earlier. Again, Hanabi. She and my father got in a fight," Hinata said, hoping Naruto wasn't too wigged out by her family.

"It's actually kind of funny to watch," Naruto admitted, smiling at her. "But your family is a bit weird." Hinata hung her head. "Don't worry about it," Naruto said, smiling even more widely at her. "It's not what I expected. I didn't realize that Neji seems to be on good speaking terms with Hiashi. A lot has changed, hasn't it?" Naruto asked. Hinata looked up and smiled at him gently.

"It's thanks to you talking to Neji-nii-san, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. Naruto shrugged his shoulders, but smiled at her compliment nonetheless.

"So, anything planned?" Naruto asked.

"I-I figured a tour of the main house and complex and then, umm, go from there?" Hinata said.

"Sounds good to me. Let's go."

**Next Chapter: At the Hyuuga's**

Since there hasn't been that much interaction with Hanabi in Shippuuden, I don't really know how she might act during this time, or years later. I apologize if she seems a bit OOC. However, considering how many teenagers go through periods of unruliness, I don't think her attitude is too far-fetched. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! - Jelp


	7. Chapter 7: At the Hyuuga's

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 7: At the Hyuuga's**

Hinata felt rather awkward giving Naruto a tour of her house and the rest of the Hyuuga grounds. He had, of course, given her a tour of his apartment, but that hadn't ended so well for Hinata. (By terms of well, she meant by embarrassment terms because if she were to reanalyze it later, she would have thought it pretty good that she ended up in his bed within only a few hours.)

"You have a lot of cousins and second cousins and relations which I can't keep up with," Naruto said. Hinata had felt even more awkward when she had been giving Naruto a tour of the Branch Family quarters than she thought she would. She was extremely grateful that her father had decided to lift some of the demeaning curfews and restrictions on the Branch family several years ago, changes that came about due to the fight between Neji and Naruto. She was sure that Naruto would have found the aspects that had been cut rather upsetting.

She was also grateful because her Branch family members – no, she shouldn't think in terms like that – just her family members seemed much more kindly towards her now that they saw that she wanted to get rid of the caged bird seal. Even if it was not possible to reverse the seal on those that had it, they still seemed to realize she didn't want them to have it either.

"How come you seem to have problems with lots of people when you come from such a big family and are used to being around people?" Naruto asked bluntly. Hinata tried laughing nervously, but it came out more of a groan.

"I-I don't know," Hinata said truthfully.

"I guess everyone is different," Naruto said, smiling widely.

"You seem really good with lots of people even though, well..." she trailed off, leaving the fact that he was an orphan left unsaid. Naruto shrugged, but didn't seem to mope about his past.

"I guess that's just who I am," Naruto said, putting his hands behind his head as he looked around him. "I wish I had a big family though. Or at least brothers and sisters. It's fun to torment my friends, but I think having siblings would have been more fun," Naruto said, grinning even more widely, and Hinata knew he would have made a great big brother, despite his underlying threat of tormenting younger siblings.

"So does that mean you want lots of kids?" Hinata asked before turning her face hurriedly away. It was such a personal question, but she was honestly curious.

"Hundreds!" Naruto said. Hinata turned her face back to look at him. "Okay, well, not hundreds. But as many kids as I can," Naruto said. Hinata had half a mind to ask whether or not that meant as many kids as his wife could have or as many as he could sire, since she wasn't even sure how Naruto felt about finding one true love and settling down. Maybe he really meant he wanted to have lots of kids with many different women...? Hinata shook her head, realizing she was over analyzing his simple enthusiastic comment.

"Won't you be worried about not sleeping with so many kids?" Hinata asked. Naruto shook his head.

"Of course not. I'll sleep and make my clones take care of the kids. I get all the clones' memories after all, so I can be everywhere at once. I'll be one of those dads that spies on their kids but the kids won't know about it because I'll have a clone transformed into a sock or something." Hinata laughed, wondering if Naruto was serious or not. His wink confirmed that he was just fooling around.

"I guess you would have problems if one of your children stubbed their toe with a sock on. The clone would disappear, and your son or daughter wouldn't have a sock any more," Hinata said, giggling, imagining the look on the child's face as their sock disappeared. Naruto laughed out loud, clearly imagining the same image.

Naruto and Hinata continued to joke about the different reactions Naruto's children might have if certain things suddenly went missing as they walked back to the Head House. Naruto seemed quite pleased the more he made Hinata laughed, and it didn't take very long for her stomach to ache from laughing so hard. Hinata felt much more at ease with Naruto now than she had ever recalled feeling before, and she couldn't stop smiling, and not just because of Naruto making funny jokes. Naruto was paying special attention to her and purposefully trying to make her laugh. The thought made her heart flutter.

Naruto stopped mid-sentence, his face turned in the air and took a deep intake of breath.

"Naruto?" Hinata asked concerned.

"Raaaamen," Naruto said, his mouth watering, and Hinata realized she could smell the faintest hint of miso ramen coming from the house. Hinata stifled a giggle at the look on Naruto's face as his stomach over took his body and he began to walk in a beeline for the doorway to the house. Hinata didn't even have to tell Naruto where to go (though he might have remembered from the earlier tour) to where the dining hall was set-up with steaming bowlfuls of ramen.

"Awesome!" Naruto said as he walked into the dining hall for the second time that day. They had only stopped there briefly, but now, with the amount of food set-up on the table, Hinata knew the entire room looked much more impressive.

"I'm not surprised to see you here before dinner is even done being laid out," Neji said wryly as he entered the dining room behind Naruto and Hinata.

"What more is there to dinner? Ramen's enough!" Naruto said, grinning at Neji. Neji shook his head, clearly disagreeing with such a preposterous statement.

"Not everyone can be sated with ramen alone," Neji said. Naruto rolled his eyes, and playfully elbowed Neji in the side. Neji didn't appreciate the jab.

"Awww, come on. Ramen is the best. You should be able to tell that with the byakugan!" Naruto said excitedly. Neji grit his teeth.

"The byakugan can only-"

"I was joking. Lighten up!" Naruto said, finally realizing that Neji was in no mood to be teased. He looked at Neji thoughtfully. "What's the matter?" Naruto asked. Neji shook his head, and did not respond. Both Hinata and Naruto watched Neji sit down at one end of the table. Naruto looked at Hinata puzzled, and Hinata felt just as puzzled as Naruto was. She had never seen Neji act so coldly to Naruto – not since before their match during the chuunin exams anyway. "Was it something I said?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"I don't know," Hinata said, wondering why her cousin seemed so moody all of a sudden. However, she had a few suspicions that popped into her mind when Hanabi entered the room later, smiling widely as though up to no good. She sat down next to Neji, and Neji's mood seemed even darker. "Ah," Hinata said, taking in the scene before her.

"Ah? Ah? What do you mean by ah? Did you figure out why Neji's so upset?" Naruto asked, clearly wanting to be told it wasn't his fault. She had a feeling that Neji's mood had a lot to do with something Hanabi had done, but she wasn't sure. Although she did know for a fact that Neji hated large, family get-togethers and so explained that to Naruto instead.

"Neji is going to eat dinner with us, which probably means that there will be more than just the head branch with us." She turned around to count the seats, feeling rather foolish for not connecting the clues earlier as she counted about twenty chairs set-up pristinely. "It's not uncommon for the dinner table to be set as though everyone was going to eat here, but it's actually very uncommon for everyone to actually come. Usually they only do so if they are made to come," Hinata explained.

"Oh," Naruto said, nodding. "Er, uh, what's the special occasion?" Naruto asked. Hinata smiled, though she couldn't hide the blush.

"You are," Hinata managed to squeak out. Naruto blinked at her.

"Ehhh? _Me_?" Naruto asked, looking confused. "Why me?"

Hinata almost made for her familiar motion to press her two fingers together, but caught herself from committing her nervous habit. Instead, she bit her lower lip which was a little less noticeable. How was she to explain to him that her father considered him a likely suitor for her? And how would she explain that the rest of the family would be here to scope him out as a possible future leader of the Hyuuga clan?

"W-w-well," Hinata said, biting harder, and finally unable to resist her nervousness, gave into temptation and began pressing her index fingers together. Hinata nearly squeaked when her father spoke from behind her.

"Are you ready to eat?" Hiashi asked Naruto. Naruto smiled widely. Any animosity and awkwardness between the two of them from earlier seemed to have evaporated on Naruto's part with the prospect of ramen happily awaiting him. Thinking of ramen happily awaiting Naruto made a strange thought pop into Hinata's mind. Hinata wondered if Naruto ever thought his ramen smiled at him because he sure smiled down at it. She wondered if he would still eat it if it smiled back.

"You bet!" Naruto said. And Hinata nearly giggled, as though he were answering her question. Hiashi nodded, both Naruto and Hiashi oblivious to Hinata's strange trail of thoughts.

"I presume you've been introduced to the Hyuuga family members?" Hiashi asked. Naruto turned to look at Hinata, and smiled a little nervously at her.

"Yeah. I don't know if I'll remember everyone's name," Naruto said truthfully, his voice dropping lower than his previously excited voice, as he rubbed the back of his head slightly.

"Understandable, but they have all met you?" Hiashi asked, but this question was directed more towards Hinata since naturally Naruto wouldn't know if he hadn't met someone.

"I introduced him to everyone," Hinata said, glad for a question she could answer readily. Hiashi nodded once again.

"Good. Naruto, why don't you find a seat and sit down? I need to speak with my daughter," Hiashi said. Naruto shrugged and went down to sit next to a slightly scowling Neji.

Hinata turned to look at her father, instinctively knowing she was going to somehow embarrass herself tonight in front of Naruto and probably with the aid of her father and her family.

"You like Naruto," Hiashi said. It wasn't a question. Hinata nodded, her face flaming.

"I-It was un-n-n-necessary of you to go through such me-measures. We're not d-dating or anything," Hinata said.

"Yes well, if I wasn't pushing you along, would you have ever revealed that you've liked Naruto since you were in the Academy?" Hiashi asked. Hinata's head shot up, mortified. How had he known that? Hiashi's stern face looked questioningly down at his daughter. "You cannot have expected me to miss who my daughter fawns over now can you?" he asked, the slightest hint of a smile touching the corner of his lips.

"You knew?" Hinata whispered.

"Hinata I think everyone knows – except for Naruto," Hiashi said, raising his eyebrows. "I feel that my aid in the matter of you starting to date is a bit more appropriate at the current time. I've been a bit concerned with Hanabi, and I fear any assistance she will give you, may be more hassle than it's worth. I know she'll outgrow it," Hiashi began, putting a hand to his forehead as though getting a headache at just the thought of his youngest daughter, "but I wish she wasn't so much like me when I was younger. I'm very grateful you turned out more like your mother," Hiashi said, nodding his head.

Hinata swallowed. It was the first time she had heard her father talk about her beloved mother in so long. To be told that she was like her mother made her swell. Also to be inadvertently told that her father was once a young troublemaker (like her sister) also made her smile. It was hard to imagine her father as anything but pristine and proper, but then again, she had never expected Hanabi to act the way she did nowadays.

"I am sure Naruto will do well with impressing the rest of the family. It is better for the rest of the clan to get to know him as soon as possible to make sure that is out of the way if he is ever to become your husband and assist you as the head of the Hyuuga clan," Hiashi said. Hinata's pale eyes widened.

"Papa-sama, I don't know if-" Hinata began, but Hiashi just waved his large hand dismissing her concerns.

"We will discuss this later. It is time for dinner," Hiashi said. Hinata nodded and went to sit down next to Naruto. She was grateful that her father was actually taking interest in who she liked, but she was still unsettled when she thought how Naruto would react if he knew the reason everyone was at dinner was because they thought he was a possible choice for her husband. She also wished her father would let her explain that she wasn't even sure if Naruto would want that kind of responsibility. Being Hokage would be plenty responsibility enough; he wouldn't want to waste time helping sort out her (sometimes) messed up family.

Hinata sighed as she picked up her chopsticks, watching Naruto looking around expectantly, ready for the meal to begin.

**Next Chapter: Wicked Comments**

What do you think? Let me know! -Jelp


	8. Chapter 8: Wicked Comments

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 8: Wicked Comments**

Hinata was grateful that Naruto was having a good time as he conversed with the members of the Hyuuga clan. Hinata was also grateful that her family seemed to take really well to Naruto who seemed much more mature around adults than she had recalled him being when they were younger. It was one of those things that she had secretly feared in regards to Naruto and her family. Her family was not one to enjoy pranks and informalities, and it made Hinata wary remembering how he used to do just about anything to get people's attention. Hinata was grateful that Naruto had matured enough to be seen in a good light by her family yet somehow maintained his youthful charm and energy while not losing his persona that screamed 'Naruto.'

However, Hinata was not grateful or appreciative of her younger sister during the conversation at dinner. While Hinata had originally sat on Naruto's right, with Neji to his left, and Hanabi on Neji's left, Hanabi had decided to move seats and sit on Hinata's right. Throughout dinner Hanabi made whispered comments that left Hinata blushing so red that Naruto had stopped his own conversation with Neji and asked if she was burning her tongue on the ramen. He even switched bowls with her at one point when he thought his ramen was cooler than hers.

Hanabi's whispered comments got progressively more suggestive and descriptive, and Hinata finally dropped her chopsticks in surprise and embarrassment when Hanabi had said,

"Look at the way his tongue darts out to lick up the drops of ramen on his mouth. What is wrong with you? You do have hormones, don't you? Why aren't you jumping him? I know you're imagining him doing that to your-"

"Hanabi!" Hinata had squeaked out, her face flaming red.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, his head snapping around to look at Hinata. After failed attempts to bring her into his conversation with the rest of her family, Naruto had let her "talk" with her sister. Now his attention was once again turned back to her. Hinata wished he would go back to his talk so that he wouldn't see her so embarrassed.

"I-"

"Well _I_ think it was a good suggestion," Hanabi interrupted Hinata. "Don't you think so Naruto?" Naruto looked at Hanabi with a blank expression, clearly not having heard what they had been talking about. Hinata hoped to keep it that way.

"Er, sorry. What did you say?" Naruto asked.

"I was just saying to Hina-"

"Hanabi! Shut-up right now!" Hinata exploded.

The noise in the dinner hall ceased. All eyes turned to see Hinata looking torn between total and utter embarrassment, and a wildness about her that no one had ever seen before. Hanabi grinned mischievously at her older sister at having finally gotten her to raise her voice.

"Hinata?" Naruto said, shocked that she had yelled at her sister.

"Hanabi that was very rude. Don't repeat it," Hinata said, turning her head down and wishing that the ground would swallow her whole.

"I'm glad someone has finally taken the time to yell at Hanabi-chan," one of the elder Hyuuga members muttered. "That girl is getting too much like Hiashi when he was that age. He didn't straighten out until after a good scolding," the man finished.

"That's quite enough. Hanabi, apologize to your sister for whatever comment you made and then leave the table. You're dishonoring us in front of a guest," Hiashi said coldly as he glanced disdainfully down at the elder Hyuuga who had spoken and compared himself to Hanabi. Hiashi then glared at his youngest.

"Umm, I'm not really all that bothered," Naruto said, but Hiashi ignored Naruto and glared at his youngest daughter.

"I'm not going to apologize just because you told me to," Hanabi said, her head held high, and any sign of her mischievous behavior gone. She looked quite pristine in Hinata's mind: pristine, defiant, and unyielding. This couldn't go well. Hinata wished she hadn't snapped.

"Hanabi," Hinata whispered, trying to get her sister out of the mess she felt responsible for, seeing out of the corner of her eye her father swelling in rage as his pride and honor were questioned.

"I'm going to apologize to Hinata because I want to," Hanabi said before Hinata or anyone else could say anything more. She turned to Hinata, gave her a wide grin that made her pristine look vanish. "Sorry sis. You really should think about what I said. We'll talk later," she said in a stage whisper that everyone heard anyway as she loudly scraped her chair as she got up and flounced out of the room.

"Whatever she suggested, _I_ suggest you don't do it," Hiashi commanded (not suggested) to Hinata. Hinata didn't say anything. Naruto looked like he wanted to say something in Hanabi's defense, and Hinata quietly put a hand on his wrist. He looked surprised at the contact and looked at her questioningly.

Hinata was very familiar with how Naruto defended those that did not or could not defend themselves. He had done it for her before. However, she felt that now would not be a good time for him to butt in, especially since Hanabi really should have stopped taunting her.

"It's okay. Trust me," she said quietly as a few people began to speak again. Naruto looked at her with widened blue eyes. He looked like he really did want to trust her. His face softened as he smiled gently at her.

"Okay. I trust you," Naruto said. He flashed her another smile before going back to his ramen, but Hinata could tell that he was just dropping the subject for her benefit. It was clear he had a lot of questions as to what was going on.

Beside Naruto, Neji looked behind the back of Naruto's head, catching Hinata's eye. It appeared that he too had thought that Naruto would say something in Hanabi's defense. Hinata nearly groaned. It appeared she would have to at least tell Neji part of what happened. Then again, maybe it would work out to her benefit. If she told Neji, he could be the one to tell her father. She really didn't want to repeat the comments Hanabi had been saying to her _father_.

* * *

"Well, it's been an interesting day," Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head. He and Hinata were walking towards the gates of the Hyuuga complex, reflecting on their day. Naruto yawned widely, and Hinata remembered that the original reason he hadn't been able to come over early in the day was due to a mission he had at 4:00 in the morning.

"What was your mission this morning?" Hinata asked.

"Mission?" Naruto repeated. "My mission!" Naruto said in understanding. "Man, that feels like so long ago. I feel like I've been at your house all day. My mission was to escort some baker and her delivery to the outskirts of Konoha for a party or something like that. Just a few rogue ninjas showed up. No big deal. They were trying to upset some sort of tradition that the family had. Nice people. They invited me to stay for the party, but this one older lady kept eyeing me up so I declined," Naruto explained, looking mature and thoughtful as though he didn't understand why an old woman would be eyeing him up.

"I see," Hinata managed to respond, not sure how to react to Naruto's last statement. She felt somehow honored that Naruto had declined another invitation to come and see her. Though, that probably wasn't the case. He was probably just getting away from his awkward situation.

"Plus," Naruto added, "I had already told you I would find you after my mission. I can't go back on my word," Naruto said, smiling widely at her. Hinata's heart fluttered, and she wished she had thought to take another one of those pills that Sakura had given her to help prevent fainting.

"Thank you f-for coming," Hinata said, trying her best not to stutter too badly as her heart fluttered madly inside of her.

"Yep." Naruto yawned again and rubbed at his eyes. "Yo!" Naruto suddenly called, and Hinata was startled at his sudden outburst. She realized that he wasn't speaking to her, and she followed his suddenly intense gaze and large grin as he looked over Hinata's shoulder. Hinata blinked, surprised to see the person walking towards them near the Hyuuga complex.

"Hn," Uchiha Sasuke greeted Naruto as he approached. Something in the back of Hinata's mind clicked on, and she remembered that she had been supposed to try and ask Naruto what Sasuke was up to these days for Sakura and Ino. Perhaps she could just ask Sasuke himself.

"Hello Sasuke-kun," Hinata said. Her voice came out surprisingly stronger than normal. She felt a mixture of shyness around those she didn't feel comfortable talking with, but she was also annoyed at the fact that Sasuke had interrupted her good-bye with Naruto. Her annoyance had probably made her voice louder.

"Hello Hinata-san," Sasuke said, and he smiled at her slightly. Hinata nearly took a step back. She couldn't ever recall Sasuke smiling without it looking like a smirk, and it was a little weird that it was directed at her. Naruto looked back and forth between the two of them and grinned widely. He stepped closer to Sasuke and gave him a knowing look. Sasuke shrugged, and Hinata felt as though an entire conversation had just passed between the two of them silently. She wished she spoke Sasuke-Naruto-silent-ease.

"I'm surprised to see you in this area, Sasuke-kun," Hinata said, seeing if she could maybe either get the promised information out of him, or perhaps he would go away and she and Naruto could talk a bit more. Hinata was feeling just the teeniest bit selfish after having spent most of the afternoon with her beloved.

"Naruto told me he'd be here," Sasuke said, as though that explained everything.

"That's just an excuse," Naruto said, grinning widely. Hinata watched as Sasuke's small smile grew into a strangely pleased smirk. She idly remembered the conversation that she and Ino had had.

_"If you and Naruto get a chance to talk, if you think of it, will you ask Naruto what Sasuke's been up to recently, and why he seems to be less, umm sulky than normal? Not that Sasuke being less sulky is a bad thing, but it is unusual. And, well, it's just weird to see him looking so happy without knowing why," Ino said._

Hinata could finally understand why Ino and Sakura had suddenly reverted to their old fangirling ways. Sasuke was happy and smirking so smugly it was a bit creepy. Naruto was also smirking too, so Naruto was clearly aware of what was going on with Sasuke. Perhaps he was part of the reason that Sasuke looked so smug? Sasuke had apparently come to meet Naruto after he was done spending time with her.

"Want to spar?" Naruto asked. Any sign of his earlier sleepiness was gone as he asked Sasuke to train with him. Naruto grinned wickedly at Sasuke as he added, "Or are you too busy?"

"I'm not too busy, but it might not be worth it if you're too tired that I'll beat you in under ten seconds," Sasuke taunted.

"Bastard," Naruto hissed, but Hinata could see that the banter was good natured. _Somehow._

"I'll see you there after you say goodnight to Hinata," Sasuke said. He walked by Naruto and stopped right by Naruto's shoulder. Hinata watched in confusion as Sasuke said something quietly in Naruto's ear. Naruto's eyes widened and his face sported a slight blush. Sasuke stepped around Naruto, smirked and left with a one handed wave to Hinata as goodbye.

"Bastard," Naruto said again, this time a bit more furiously as he refused to meet Hinata's gaze and looked instead at his hands.

"Are you okay? What did Sasuke say?" Hinata asked, wondering why Naruto looked so flustered. Naruto scratched the back of his head, but he couldn't even manage to get himself to laugh loudly to ward off the awkwardness.

"You know. Stuff," Naruto said dismissively. Hinata's eyes widened ever so slightly as she realized that Sasuke had purposefully left her and Naruto alone for Naruto to say goodnight. She had a very strong feeling that Sasuke had said something to Naruto like Hanabi had said to her at dinner. Hinata's face blushed red at that thought.

"Are you okay?" Hinata repeated.

"Everyone's putting ideas in my head," Naruto said, smiling a small smile as he looked down at his hands. Hinata was taken with how handsome he looked when his face was relaxed, set in a genuine smile. It was very becoming. "Well, I better get going. I need to hand Sasuke his ass on a silver platter for being such a prick." Hinata giggled slightly and covered her mouth. Naruto grinned at her for reacting to his not so pleasant comment.

"G-goodnight Naruto-kun," Hinata said.

"Night Hinata," Naruto said. The next moment, time seemed to speed up, and everything happened so fast that she wasn't sure if it had happened at all. It felt as though Naruto had leaned in quickly and given her a quick kiss on her cheek. Hinata stood almost motionless as Naruto grinned widely at her, waved, and ran off for his spar.

Reality sunk in as Hinata realized that Naruto had in fact given her a quick goodnight kiss on the cheek.

Hinata pressed her hand to her cheek gently before her eyes rolled backward as she fainted.

**Next Chapter: Bedroom Chats**

What did you think? - Jelp


	9. Chapter 9: Bedroom Chats

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 9: Bedroom Chats**

"Geeze. One peck on the cheek and you're down. What are you two gonna do when you start having sex?" Hanabi said frustrated. Hinata opened her eyes slowly as she saw the familiar ceiling of her bedroom appear before her eyes, and then the face of her scowling sister appeared overtop of her. "And man were you dead weight. You didn't even move as I carried you into my bedroom. I was gonna leave you there in my room, but I haven't cleaned it yet," Hanabi said off-handedly.

"Am I dreaming?" Hinata asked.

"Nope. Lover boy really did kiss your cheek. It was really cute actually," Hanabi said. "You two are moving frustratingly slow though. Good thing Sasuke showed up and said something to Naruto to hurry it up," Hanabi said.

"Hurry it up?" Hinata asked. Hanabi looked down at her sister as she placed a wet cloth on her forehead.

"At least, that's my guess. He's probably sick and tired of watching his best friend be so oblivious at the fact that you like Naruto. Though I still get the feeling Naruto was thinking of that peck on the cheek more in friendly terms than not, especially since it was clear that Sasuke was still watching him. Probably didn't want to get de-manned in front of one of his guy friends. Plus, I get the feeling that Naruto's the kind of guy that will move fast once he gets going. That's why I don't think he's taking it seriously yet. That was just a friendly peck, if you ask me. Once his real kisses start, I peg your virginity for lasting a month before it's his."

"What?" Hinata asked stunned, wondering where Hanabi had been through everything since she had clearly been watching, and also wondering why in the world Hanabi had thought about something like _that_.

"But don't worry. I'm sure Naruto will come around soon. I mean, from what I hear, you have Sakura, Ino, Neji, me, and it looks like Sasuke too, all trying to get you two together. Even Dad's helping out! Naruto doesn't stand a chance."

Hinata frowned.

"I don't want Naruto-kun to feel _obligated_ to want to date me," Hinata said miserably.

"I'm sure you won't mind if he feels obligated when he's thrusting into you and you're moaning his name when you orgasm," Hanabi said, smiling widely.

"HANABI!" Hinata screeched.

"Oh come on! You're way too uptight. You need to get laid really badly. We just need to make sure you don't pass out once Naruto gets naked. Maybe a bit of sake or something will help."

"HANABI!" Hinata screeched again. "Where in the world did this side of you come from?" Hinata demanded.

"You really need to read the Icha-Icha Series. What great books! I wanted to know if that's really what it felt like, if life could have such excitement, passion, and love!" Hanabi said. "They've been such a wonderful inspiration."

"I'd say more like a bad influence," Hinata groaned. Hanabi winked at her sister.

"Maybe just a little."

"I don't even know when I'm going to see Naruto again," Hinata sighed.

"You better make it soon. Neji told me this evening about how Sakura is trying to get you to tell Naruto how you feel. He also said he thought that she and Ino were planning something if you didn't tell him on your own," Hanabi warned. Hinata sighed.

"Sakura threatened to tell Naruto-kun I liked him," Hinata said miserably.

"From what Neji says, he thinks it will be worse than that. Shikamaru told Neji that his teammate Ino was planning something troublesome, so I'd be careful," Hanabi said seriously.

"Shikamaru says everything's troublesome. That's not a big deal," Hinata said, somewhat amused.

"Well, Neji said that Shikamaru has been cutting down on that word the past few years. Neji thought there was more conviction behind it than normal, something about his eyes and psychology and all that crap Neji gets real into." Hanabi emphasized how much she thought Neji went overboard by waving her hand around airily. Hinata meanwhile wondered why Shikamaru would have tried cutting down on using the world troublesome. She had a feeling a girl had to be involved somewhere in the mix if that was the case.

"I-I guess I'll try and find Naruto-kun tomorrow. Maybe Neji-nii-san knows where he'll be."

"Yeah, 'cuz Neji knows where all the guys are since he loves sausage fests," Hanabi said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I doubt Neji will know unless he, like you, uses his byakugan and finds him. Why don't you use your own abilities and track down your man?" Hanabi challenged.

A knock at the door made both Hanabi and Hinata jump. Hanabi dived under the bed (surprisingly quiet, as though she had practiced it) as Hinata went to her door. She knew right away who it was, and she groaned that she had forgotten that he had mentioned discussing Naruto with her later.

"Hello Papa-sama," Hinata said as she allowed her father to enter her room. She didn't need her door to be broken again from barring him access a second time in the same day. She put her hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle as she remembered the look on her father's face as Hanabi had shut the door on him.

"Despite your younger sister, I thought the night went rather well. A suitable, well-mannered, chaste kiss on the cheek to end it too," Hiashi said formally. Hinata's face turned red. Had everyone seen that? "The night and the formal meeting between Naruto and our family seem to have gone well. A wedding can be planned within the month."

"Papa!" Hinata said, scandalized. "I don't even know if he likes me like that or not," Hinata said mortified.

"He kissed your cheek. He better have plans for marrying you," Hiashi said.

"Papa...things are a bit, _different_ by today's terms," Hinata said, biting her lip and wringing her hands nervously as she tried to explain something she herself knew very little about.

"If he turns you down, I will force the issue," Hiashi said firmly.

"Papa, are you joking?" Hinata asked miserably. She looked at the stern look on her father's face and realized that, no, he was not joking. Hinata feared for Naruto.

"While my reports on Uzumaki Naruto have found some of his tendencies," Hiashi paused, looking for the right term, "to be a bit more _loose_ in some areas, and bit more lewd and ostentatious in others, he has some rather good, redeeming qualities. His obvious loyalty to Konoha and his heritage provide him with a good background for marriage."

"His heritage?" Hinata asked. Hiashi raised his thin eyebrows.

"I suppose that is for him to explain to you if he hasn't already. I'm sure it would make for a good conversation starter. The point is that you two are a good match. I am sure his parents would have agreed had they still been alive, so I feel that you should proceed with whatever courtship you feel necessary before announcing your engagement," Hiashi said.

"But Papa, you can't do that! What if Naruto-kun doesn't want to marry me?" Hinata asked miserably.

"While you have a tendency to be weak when it comes to your shinobi duties, and you tend to flail when faced with a direct and undesirable confrontation, you are nevertheless a well-suited match. You show the good qualities of a wife and mother as well as a very good candidate to be the wife of the future Hokage. I am sure if Naruto remembers anything of his mother, he probably will find that you are the closest thing to her in Konoha. It is a proven fact that men generally tend to end up with women that have similar aspects to their mother. Therefore you have a natural higher biochemistry reaction to Naruto than most other females. It is inevitable that you are the likeliest candidate for him to end up with out of all the females in Konoha," Hiashi said finally.

"You make it sound like he has no choice, and that we're going to end up together based on logical dating rituals," Hinata whimpered.

"Precisely. I am glad you finally understand the point. You want to marry Naruto, don't you?" Hiashi asked.

"W-well, yes, I suppose, b-but I-"

"Then stop complaining," Hiashi said coolly. He turned around and walked toward the door, pausing in the middle of the doorway. "And Hanabi, you are grounded. I can tell you're under the bed even without the use of my byakugan."

"Damn!" Hanabi's muffled reply came. He shut the door on his way out.

"Poor Naruto-kun..." Hinata trailed off miserably.

"I'll say. With the rate Papa's going at how old-fashioned he's taking this, you'll be lucky if he's not standing over your marital bed to make sure you two consummate things," Hanabi said rather gruffly as she appeared (rather gracefully) from underneath the bed. Hinata's face turned a brilliant shade of crimson at Hanabi's statement. "Oh for heaven's sake, breathe woman!" Hanabi yelled at her sister as she took her sister's upper arm and helped her to sit on her bed.

"M-Marital b-b-bed..."

"You really, _really_ need to learn to loosen up. It was a _joke_," Hanabi said. "When did I become the older sister here?" she asked to no one in particular. Hinata looked over at her sister. She was about to speak when another knock at the door had Hanabi diving underneath the bed again.

"That's Neji-nii-san's knock. You don't need to hide," Hinata whispered. She went to the door and allowed her cousin to come into her room.

"I know you're in here Hanabi-sama. Hiashi-sama informed me you were still here as I passed him in the hallway," Neji said. Hanabi smiled sweetly as she reappeared from underneath the bed. "I suggest you leave," Neji added.

"Why?" Hanabi asked.

"Because you are grounded," Neji said simply.

"I'm 18. How can I still be getting grounded?" Hanabi asked, crossing her arms over her shoulder.

"Unless you want to make your father more upset, I'd suggest leaving," Neji said, his voice low. Hinata looked back and forth between her sister and her cousin. She hadn't recalled seeing them at such odds before. Hinata had always assumed that Neji sympathized with Hanabi because she, like Neji's father, was the younger of the Head Branch siblings and would one day receive a caged bird seal. Or at least, Hanabi would under normal circumstances. If Hinata had anything to say about it, she wouldn't though.

"Please Hanabi," Hinata requested. Hanabi looked at her sister and sighed.

"Whatever," Hanabi said flippantly as she left Hinata's room and headed down the hall towards her own room.

"She's becoming more difficult. Doesn't she realize that this type of behavior will lead to her getting a caged bird seal even faster?" Neji asked. Hinata finally thought she understood Neji's logic. He was trying to get Hanabi to behave for her own good, and was clearly frustrated at her antics rather than at her specifically.

"What did you need, Neji-nii-san?" Hinata asked.

"Hiashi-sama asked me to find out what Hanabi-sama was saying at the dinner table," Neji said. Hinata's face turned a slight shade of pink. She had thought that might be the case. She stuttered out Hanabi's comments to Neji, her face growing increasingly pinker and then redder as she continued.

"I didn't realize Hanabi-sama had turned into a walking pornographic thesaurus," Neji said after a moment. "I wish I could say I was surprised, though I have seen that she has had a boy or two in her room," Neji said.

"Or t-two?" Hinata repeated.

"_I_ didn't stutter," Neji said. "And while I'm sad to see that Hanabi may be falling into her own downward spiral away from the Hyuuga clan, I'm glad to see that she hasn't accepted her fate and has chosen her own path." Neji turned to leave without saying anything more.

"N-neji-nii-san," Hinata said timidly. He turned back around to stare at her, his pale eyes staring into her own. "D-do you think N-Naruto-kun l-likes me?" Neji looked off to the side, seemingly staring past her for a moment.

"I can't tell for sure. He seems to like everyone," Neji said thoughtfully. Then a small smirk slowly spread across his lips. "But I can't recall him ever giving anyone else a kiss on the cheek before. Good night Hinata-sama," Neji said, still smirking, as he didn't wait for a response as he left Hinata's room.

"Did _everyone_ see that?" Hinata asked, half-mortified. She touched her hand up to her cheek and rubbed at the spot where Naruto had kissed her gently. She smiled a little shyly. "At least I know I didn't dream it," she murmured to herself.

Hinata went to bed that night, thinking of chaste kisses and Naruto's smile. She fell asleep though, dreaming of much more vivid dreams that would definitely have made Hanabi proud.

**Next Chapter: Girl Talk**

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated. :-) - Jelp


	10. Chapter 10: Girl Talk

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 10: Girl Talk**

"Hinata, relax," Hanabi said. And while Hinata could tell that Hanabi was trying to sound sympathetic, her sister couldn't hide the amused smile that graced her lips as she watched her older sister pace her room restlessly.

"I didn't see him at all yesterday," Hinata said miserably. Yesterday had been a horrible day for Hinata. (By horrible it meant she hadn't seen Naruto at all.) Hinata didn't want to think too much about it, but Hanabi wasn't so generous and kept reminding her that she hadn't seen him. She also kept reminding her of the impending and supposed time limit Sakura and Ino had given Hinata to confess to Naruto.

"I think you're more worried that Sakura and Ino ended up coming to the house yesterday, bogging you down with questions and threats more than the fact that you didn't see Naruto," Hanabi said, her amused smile vanishing upon mentioning her sister's would-be tormentors.

"Is it legal for them to make me wear what Ino had with her? It looked more like a handkerchief than an actual outfit," Hinata said worriedly, biting her lip. The two girls had come over with lots of lewd ways of trying to help Hinata catch Naruto's attention faster (or as Hanabi called it, seduce him into bed). Hinata was grateful that Hanabi hadn't mentioned that he had given her a kiss on the cheek. She wasn't sure what the kiss had meant to him, and she didn't need the girls to hound Naruto about it either.

"You should get that blue and black laced dress from them anyway. I'll wear it, if you won't," Hanabi said. "_My_ man will enjoy it." Hinata turned to look at her sister, a question gnawing at the back of her mind.

"Ne, H-hanabi," Hinata began. She still remembered Neji's words from two days previous:

_"I have seen that she has had a boy or two in her room," Neji said._

Hinata shook her head. She wanted to ask Hanabi what that meant as Neji hadn't been very helpful when she had asked him about it later. Boy or _two_? Did Hanabi have multiple boyfriends and lovers? Was that type of thing common? She had heard plenty of stories where there were multiple women involved with one man, and it made her curious as to why her sister would be with more than one person. Unless she had broken up with Konohamaru and moved on?

"Stutter faster," Hanabi said when Hinata had paused.

"N-neji-nii-san said that he saw t-two boys in your room. Is that so?" Hinata asked. Hanabi sat down on her sister's bed and grinned widely.

"More than two sometimes," Hanabi said rather bashfully, and Hinata noticed for the first time, in a long time, her sister had a shy smile on her face. Hinata found this odd when her sister was talking about such a scandalous topic. "He's done as many as ten," Hanabi said, her face blushing scarlet. Hinata blinked. What had Hanabi just said, and why didn't that sound quite right?

"He's done as many as ten? Huh?" Hinata repeated, confused.

"You know, like Naruto does. Kage bunshin no jutsu; he learned it from Naruto. Hinata," Hanabi said, and her eyes were wide and she clasped her sister's hands. "I really want you and Naruto to be together. The two of them have so much in common, and I need someone to talk to about my boyfriend. And he really wants you and Naruto together, I can tell. I think he would like it if they were brother-in-laws," Hanabi said.

"Aren't you and Konohamaru moving a little fast?" Hinata asked. "Talking about marriage already?" Hanabi winced as she looked at her sister.

"I promise that Konohamaru and I aren't moving too fast," Hanabi promised. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. But enough about me, back to you and Naruto," Hanabi said, changing the subject. "How many days ago was it that Sakura threatened to tell Naruto that you liked him if you hadn't told him yourself? I know you have just within a week left to do so, right?"

"Yes, but I don't know off the top of my head. Let me think," Hinata said as she mentally counted in her head. "Five full days ago. I have two more left," Hinata said. Looking back, the five days seemed to have taken much longer. Except for yesterday, which had gone by much too quickly in Naruto's absence. "And I still don't know where he was yesterday," Hinata said miserably.

"He was doing a mission, obviously," Hanabi supplied.

"But Sakura-chan didn't go on the mission with him. She was over here yesterday," Hinata said, sighing.

"Well that's a good thing. He and Sasuke weren't spending time with her – which means that they could spend more time doing some good old male bonding and perhaps Sasuke could talk to Naruto for you on your behalf!" Hanabi said.

"Why would Sasuke-kun do something like that?" Hinata asked. Hanabi rolled her eyes.

"He clearly stopped by the other night. Why else would he be around here unless he was checking up on Naruto?" Hanabi said hurriedly, as though she didn't need to really spend much time explaining this obvious fact.

"That's true. Sasuke-kun wouldn't have any other reason to come around here unless to meet up with Naruto-kun-"

"Exactly! There. Point proven. Next topic," Hanabi said. "Ino and Sakura. They're beginning to become too nit-picky. You're my sister and I get first dibs on being the girl to help you win the guy," Hanabi said. Hinata smiled, finding it amusing that her sister was getting jealous of Ino and Sakura on her behalf.

"Hanabi, I don't want to be too impolite, but why this sudden interest in me all of a sudden? It's like you've changed drastically over night," Hinata said, and she put her hand gently over top of her younger sister's hand. "I really appreciate that you and I are getting along. I'm just curious as to why now," Hinata asked. Hanabi looked down at her sister's hand overtop of her own.

"Didn't we talk about this a bit before? My beloved helped me to see just how important family really is. You're a caring older sibling. Being close to your siblings is important," Hanabi said. Hinata and Hanabi shared a kind smile, neither speaking for a while.

"W-what's it like?" Hinata asked after a few moments of silence.

"What's what like?" Hanabi asked curiously. Hinata blushed.

"Making love," Hinata squeakily whispered out. Hanabi smiled shyly again.

"Well, for you, when it's with Naruto, you'll know that he really loves you because of the way that he focuses on wanting to make you feel good. Every kiss, every caress, the way he looks at you as though you're the only thing that's important...it just makes your heart flutter each time. And I don't mean literally in that you can feel your heart actually flutter, more like, emotions seem to surge through you and there's just so much to feel that the speed of which they come to you makes you feel like you've become a blur."

Hinata smiled to herself, getting lost in thoughts of her and Naruto together as a couple. Her father seemed ready to have her married off, and while that thought would be like a dream come true for Hinata, she wondered how it would be for Naruto. He had always been kind to everyone that had taken the time to get to know him, and she had only received and known his kindness. However, she had watched him during her youth at the Konoha Ninja Academy, and she knew of the deep loneliness that he had felt. She had felt lonely too, but she couldn't begin to understand how he felt. She wondered if he would have trouble adjusting to living with someone after so many years of solitude.

Her smiled drifted into a frown as she recalled hearing the others calling him names when he was younger, beating him down, trying to make him lesser than he was. It still brought angry tears to Hinata on the occasion she thought of these things when she was already down, but thinking of them anyway always made her want to find Naruto and tell him that she thought he was everything to her. She also knew that he meant a lot to other people. A part of Hinata's reluctance to speak to Naruto was that the other people around him had kept Hinata from speaking out. She had seen Sakura look at Naruto at times with more than friendship in her glance. Hinata knew that Sakura still crushed on – and possibly even loved – Uchiha Sasuke, but if Sasuke hadn't been there, Hinata was pretty sure that Sakura would have accepted Naruto's attempts to date her. She would be more than willing to see Naruto date Sakura if it would make him happy. To her, that wouldn't be sacrificing her happiness because seeing Naruto happy made her happy.

Sighing at this thought, Hinata's frown deepened. She still couldn't get over the feeling that Naruto would rather be with Sakura than her. Was she ruining the chances of Naruto and Sakura getting together if she made a move? Or was Sakura's threat to tell

Naruto that Hinata liked him a way to make sure that Hinata knew that Sakura and Naruto just weren't possible? Hinata rubbed her temples, wondering if Sakura would have said anything if Sasuke was officially taken. Sakura and Ino had both started chasing after Sasuke more vigorously lately. What if-

"You know, I know you're thinking and all, but have you forgotten that I'm still here?" Hanabi asked, interrupting Hinata's thoughts.

"Oh, yes. Sorry, yes I did," Hinata apologized.

"Gee, thanks. I love you too," Hanabi drawled sarcastically, crossing her arms. "I can't read your mind, and unless you want to share, I might just leave." Hinata grinned at Hanabi.

"No you won't. You're afraid Papa's going to yell at you, so you're hiding in here with me," Hinata said, giggling a little. Hanabi blushed and looked at her hands.

"I think he might know about me being..." Hanabi paused, trying to find the right word.

"You mean you think Papa knows his youngest daughter is no longer so innocent?" Hinata said.

"I was going more for sexually active, but that sounds much nicer," Hanabi said, grinning. "I used to feel extremely eloquent when I was younger. Being so sexually active and not as innocent makes me feel a lesser need to attempt to use words that the average person would need a dictionary for."

"Yes, I've noticed," Hinata said, enjoying the banter. "And you're more than welcome to try and hide here for as long as you think Papa won't bend the unspoken privacy rule and activate his byakugan to locate where you're hiding. Though logically, considering the amount of time you and I have spent together lately, and also considering the last time you tried to hide from him was quite unsuccessful, I have a feeling that if he really wanted to find you he would be able to do so."

"But he still has to go through you first to get to me," Hanabi said. Hinata smiled. She knew her sister wasn't trying to be mean, and she was grateful that her baby sister was at least allowing her to keep some of her elderly sister duties by being the cushioning factor between Hanabi and their father. Hinata smiled at her sister, looking at Hanabi carefully.

It was just within the past three months that she and Hanabi had suddenly begun getting really close to each other. Hinata couldn't have even pinpointed the change. It had come both suddenly and gradually, an odd combination. Hinata had noticed Hanabi's ever increasing outspoken and ostentatious behavior. It was rather hard not to. However, Hanabi had also been much more forward with her, and so when Hanabi started butting more into her life, she had just assumed it was Hanabi's changing personality and hadn't realized it would bring them so much closer. Hanabi had changed, and not just in personality. There was something about her that was different. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, and her skin seemed to glow. Hinata had assumed at first glance that it was just because her sister was young and in love. But looking closer at Hanabi, noting her sudden desire to be a bigger part of her sister's life...almost mothering her...

"Hanabi?" Hinata began hesitantly.

"Yes?" Hanabi answered, her eyes narrowing slightly at Hinata's tone.

"Are you pregnant?" Hinata asked. Hanabi's face went completely blank. She didn't speak for a moment, and Hinata was about ready to take that for a confirmation when-

"Are you nuts?! You think I'd let myself get knocked up so easily?! Of course I'm not pregnant!" Hanabi practically screeched.

"Well, if you're sure," Hinata said. Hanabi rolled her eyes. She sighed.

"If you must know," Hanabi said, and she once again looked down at her hands, looking slightly ashamed of herself.

"Yes?"

"I-I'm getting married," Hanabi murmured. Hinata's eyes widened.

"What?" Hinata said.

"We're eloping. Soon. I'm not sure when. Papa would never approve of our marriage, not until you got married. I don't want you to rush things with Naruto – though you still really need to get laid – and I just know it's the right choice for us to get married. And truth be told," Hanabi smiled shyly, reminding Hinata more of how she remembered her sister when she was younger, "I _do_ want to be pregnant. Still, considering my name, I know it would only hurt the baby if I had a child out of wedlock. So I need to get married so I can start having little ones."

"Hanabi, eloping, without Papa's consent, the consequences for you will be horrible," Hinata said mournfully. "They will also be horrible for any children you want to have. You're still young. There's no need to rush."

"I can't be a caged bird," Hanabi said. For the first time, Hinata realized how strong that fear was within her sister.

"Hanabi, I won't let-"

"But you won't be able to stop all of them Hinata. Don't you realize it? They won't respect you if you go against them without support. You need Naruto, and I think _I _need you to be with Naruto. When he becomes Hokage, he promised to change things. I believe in you, and I believe in Naruto as well." Hinata's eyes were wide. Konohamaru's closeness to Naruto hadn't just made him influence Hanabi; Naruto's own words of their own accord had made Hanabi believe in the man that Hinata loved.

"Naruto-kun really is special, isn't he?" Hinata asked. Hanabi nodded. Hinata sighed again. "I love him, but how can I expect Naruto-kun to fall in love with me?"

"Well," Hanabi grinned, "now that you're actually speaking to him in full sentences, I think it will be a lot easier."

**Next Chapter: More Girls and More Girl Talk**

Please review! - Jelp


	11. Chapter 11: More Girls & More Girl Talk

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 11: More Girls and More Girl Talk**

"I d-don't know ab-bout this," Hinata stuttered out.

"I think it's very becoming," Sakura said, grinning widely.

"It looks great," Ino said.

"You were right about it looking more like just a piece of cloth than a dress," Hanabi said, grinning. Sakura and Ino both turned to glare at Hanabi for her comment. She smiled sweetly back at them. Sakura and Ino had once again come back to the Hyuuga complex with the dress that they had tried to convince Hinata to wear the day before. With Hanabi's encouragement, she had actually tried the thing on. It didn't leave much to the imagination.

The dress naturally hugged her breasts while simultaneously managed to push them up and together, showing more cleavage that Hinata thought that she possessed. The dress was extremely low cut and strapless, with a black and blue stripe that covered her chest. Her stomach and her back were both bare while a black piece of thin and tight fabric clung to her right side as a symmetric blue piece clung to her left. The skirt portion of the dress hugged the top of her bottom, and then flared out frilly in blue with black lace trim, making it feel as though the faintest of breezes would lift the dress up to expose her panties. It also happened to be a very short dress, and she wished it were at least tight on her thighs so she didn't feel the breeze that went between her legs.

"Th-this re-really isn't m-me," Hinata said as she looked at herself in the mirror. "This dress is even shorter and more re-revealing than the one you lent me," Hinata moaned as she looked at her sister, remembering the dress that Hanabi had dolled her up in when she had gone to meet Naruto.

"Yeah, but Naruto must really like it, right? Didn't he like the dress I picked out for you?" Hanabi asked, frowning. Hinata had nearly forgotten the way that Naruto hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her. She had forgotten the way it felt to have him look at her like she was a woman and not just as a fellow ninja.

"Hehe," Hinata giggled, and then blushed madly as she realized it wasn't just her and Hanabi.

"What's this?" Ino asked. Hanabi grinned widely again.

"Naruto couldn't take his eyes of Hinata when she was wearing one of my dresses. I know he would like it because my love said it would make any man's heart warm to see a beautiful girl in it."

"Yes, but that's not-" Hinata started.

"If Naruto was so responsive to that dress, then I think that you should make sure to wear this one. I'm sure he'll be responsive to it too," Sakura said excitedly.

"And we should do something sexy with your hair," Ino said.

"It's gotten really pretty now that you let it grow out. We can twist it around and-"

"As though you know anything about how to make hair look attractive, forehead girl-"

"As though you know anything about how to make yourself look anything close to attractive, Ino-pig-"

"_Shut-up!_" Hanabi yelled annoyed. "No wonder no guy wants to date either of you. Listening to both of you is like listening to two two-year-olds arguing," Hanabi said exasperatedly. Ino and Sakura both turned to look at Hanabi, and instead of arguing with her, they both looked exceptionally ashamed of themselves and turned away.

"She's right," Sakura said. Ino nodded.

"We've been behaving like when we were twelve again," Ino said, sighing. Hinata tugged down at the would-be skirt material, looking rather awkward. She knew something was up with the two girls. She hadn't seen them act like this since they were younger. As far as she knew, they had become close friends again.

"Is there anything you two w-want to talk about?" Hinata asked shyly. She moved slightly to get closer to the two girls, but stopped and decided that moving in the skirt was practically like flashing everyone. She blushed at that thought as an image of her accidentally-on-purpose flashing Naruto her panties sprung to her mind.

Both Sakura and Ino looked at each other and then away off to the side, neither of them noticing Hinata's blush.

"It's just that we're pretty sure that Sasuke has a crush on someone," Sakura said.

"And it's not either of us," Ino said sadly. "I guess it's just easier to yell at each other than the person Sasuke has feelings for since we don't know who that person is. And, well, it's hard to yell at someone who makes him seem so happy," Ino said.

"For a while I thought it might be Naruto-"

"_Naruto?_" Hanabi asked incredulously.

"Well Sasuke never seemed to take interest in any girls, and Naruto's always been the closest person to him, so I thought maybe, you know, he might be gay," Sakura said, shrugging.

"It would be kinda hot to watch," Ino said thoughtfully. Hinata closed her eyes, mortified.

"No it wouldn't be!" Hinata squeaked out. The thought of anyone else touching her Naruto-kun was definitely not appealing to Hinata, and she somehow felt insulted that they were making it be another guy.

"But they always say that they're like brothers, so we ruled that out," Ino said.

"Even _**I**_ could have told you they just liked each other like brothers," Hanabi muttered, rolling her eyes. "Sasuke and Naruto. Honestly. How gross."

"I don't see it," Hinata said, shaking her head disdainfully.

"Nor do I," Hanabi agreed.

"Just wishful thinking," Ino said, smiling a bit at Sakura. "It'd be nice to know I was turned down because I don't have the right parts instead of for another girl."

"But we have come to the conclusion that it isn't Naruto-"

"Not that Naruto would have agreed anyway. He's definitely straight. When Konohamaru and I first started dating, he used to always tell me the story about how Naruto created the sexy no jutsu technique and then the harem jutsu technique in order to ward off Ebisu-san," Hanabi said, and then added as an after thought, "And Naruto did the same thing to Sandaime too. Naruto clearly likes to spy on girls, or did," Hanabi added, chancing a glance at her sister, "so he's at least straight enough to examine a woman's body in thorough enough detail to mimic one."

"That's somehow gross too," Hinata said, thinking of her Naruto in a girl's body, turning on men.

"The point is," Ino said, interrupting where the subject was heading, "we're sure it isn't Naruto, and we're pretty sure that Sasuke's crush interest really is a girl since there would be no other boys to attract his attention."

"Knowing Uchiha Sasuke, and his sophisticated tastes, you should probably say he's interested in a _woman_ instead of a _girl_," Hanabi said, waving her hand around airily. "You two _girls_ are not familiar with the social niceties of clan society, and since Sasuke grew up in a very well-to-do clan, I am sure he wouldn't go for a mere _girl_," Hanabi said. Ino and Sakura looked at each other conspiratorially again, completely missing Hanabi's negativity toward them.

"To be honest, we had wondered if he might have fallen for Hinata," Sakura said.

"Wh-what?" Hinata squeaked out. "Me? Why would Sa-sasuke-kun like m-_me_?"

"Yes, honestly, do tell why you think Sasuke would go after my sister," Hanabi said, crossing her arms, amused. "She has obviously given no interest in him, and anyone who looks can see that she likes Naruto." Hinata nodded, agreeing with her sister. Hinata doubted that Sasuke had a crush on her.

"Just because Hinata's not interested in Sasuke, doesn't mean that Sasuke couldn't be interested in her. Besides, I hadn't known that you liked Naruto," Sakura mumbled, and Hinata remembered that Sakura had told her that Ino had only just recently informed her of her long-time crush on Naruto.

"Yeah, that's a bit dense of you," Ino said turning to Sakura. "Kiba kept complaining to Shikamaru about it, but of course, all Shikamaru says is that it's 'troublesome.'"

"Yes, because I spend so much time around Kiba, Shikamaru and Hinata to know what they talk about," Sakura said, rolling her eyes, and then turned to Hinata. "I should though. You're really very sweet to talk to. It's amazing that you liked Naruto when he was young and obnoxious. I can see why you would like him _now_, but before graduating from the Academy? You must have the ability to see great potential," Sakura said. And Hinata smiled, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders. The way that Sakura talked about Naruto was somehow relieving. It was like Sakura viewed Naruto as a brother – perhaps an annoying brother – but one that she obviously cared very deeply about. There was nothing more that she desired from their relationship, especially nothing romantic.

"You really are very sweet," Ino agreed, winking at Hinata, and Hinata blushed, pulling the dress down, feeling less than sweet at the moment.

"Of course she is," Hanabi said rather defensively.

"Anyway, when I realized that Sasuke didn't like you like that, but I realized that you liked Naruto, I knew that something had to be done," Sakura said, smiling kindly at Hinata. "You are very sweet, but you are also very shy. I think you would compliment Naruto very well, and he needs a woman in his life like you. I've seen the two of you interact, and he does seem to act differently around you. I think he's just been hurt too much in his life from people to see that you like him, or to see that anyone would like him like that to be honest. He's not dumb, even though I know he acts it a lot. With you, I think he would just be oblivious to that kind of attention," Sakura said wisely.

Hinata smiled, feeling rather flattered, and she was glad to see that Sakura was acting more like the woman she had known the past few years rather than the woman that had recently converted back to a squealing-Uchiha-Sasuke-chasing-fangirl.

"So now we're back at square one, trying to figure out who Sasuke likes," Ino said.

"Not to bust your bubble or anything, but didn't you come over here to help Hinata, not talk about your would-be love lives?" Hanabi asked raising her eyebrows. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Boys always come up during things like this. You really need to get some more girl friends," Ino said firmly. "We can fix that Hanabi."

"Hn," Hanabi said, sounding less than convinced.

"See, I told you she wasn't training today!" A new voice, a very familiar male voice, drifted in from the hallway adjacent to Hinata's room, and all the girls perked up.

"Was that N-N-Naruto-kun's v-voice?" Hinata asked, her voice trembling. Her arms automatically crossed in front of herself, hiding her shamefully (in her mind) exposed body.

"Yes, Naruto, you're a genius," the sarcastic voice of Uchiha Sasuke followed after Naruto's statement. He sounded both bored and slightly annoyed.

"What are they doing here? And why is Sasuke here too?" Sakura asked.

"Papa let them in the house to come up to your room?" Hanabi asked Hinata surprised, turning to look at Hinata.

"N-no!" Hinata squeaked.

Everything happened in a flash for Hinata in the next moment. Hanabi had shoved a calming pill in her mouth, seeing the potential danger for her older sister to faint with Naruto around. Ino and Sakura meanwhile practically jumped on Hinata, their hands pulling at her hair while something was put on her face. It seemed to last only a few moments, and it was only Hinata's training as a shinobi that she realized that she had had make-up applied to her face, her hair pulled back and twisted on top of her head, and a calming pill shoved down her throat.

There was a knock on her door, and Ino, Sakura, and Hanabi were all sitting sweetly on top of Hinata's bed before Hinata could blink again, looking as though they had just been lounging around the entire time.

"Come in!" Hanabi sing-songed, aware that her sister wouldn't be able to react due to her shock at Naruto's sudden appearance.

Naruto and Sasuke entered the room, at first not noticing that Hinata was standing off to the side, just seeing the three girls sitting on the bed.

"Er, hello," Naruto said, looking at the three girls who grinned at him like kittens that had eaten a dozen canaries. "Where's Hina-" but his question died on his lips as he turned while asking the question, spotting Hinata standing by the mirror in her room. She smiled at him quickly. She would have looked down if her body hadn't felt frozen in place. Hinata watched as Naruto's eyes widened slightly, his mouth opening as though unable to find the words he had wanted to say.

"Congratulations Hinata. You have effectively found a way to make Naruto shut-up," Sasuke said, smirking at her. "Quite the feat indeed." Naruto blushed furiously, and turned around and punched Sasuke in the shoulder.

"Shut-up, bastard," Naruto hissed. He then turned back to Hinata and grinned winningly at her. "Wow, you look beautiful Hinata."

Behind Naruto, Hinata could see Ino and Sakura share mischievous grins and giggle silently. She felt like she was twelve again.

"N-not really," Hinata said, and wanted to smack herself for saying such a lame comment. She felt her chest heave and her heartbeat quicken as she remembered the last time she had seen Naruto he had kissed her cheek. A friendly kiss perhaps, but a kiss. Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come over to my house again. I got a new plant, and I was trying to identify it. It seems to be doing bad in the soil it was potted in, so I think it was mislabeled. I'm trying to determine what type of climatic zone it fits best," Naruto said.

Hinata watched as Ino and Sakura shared incredulous looks with each other, mouthing "type of climatic zone?" both of them seemingly unaware of Naruto's extensive knowledge in plants.

"But, since you seem like you're going out, maybe anot-"

"No!" Sakura said. Naruto turned to look at her.

"No? Huh?" he asked.

"No, she's not doing anything right now. We were just leaving," Sakura said hurriedly. Naruto frowned.

"But she's clearly dressed up for something-"

"Oh Naruto," Ino said, and then sighed. "You don't understand how girls work. She was clearly just modeling her new outfit for us. It's a girl thing," Ino said. "Hinata wanted to show us her new dress."

"And it looks lovely," Sakura said, smiling at her.

"Yep. Sexy too. Looks like it'd be real easy to take off," Hanabi said, grinning. Sasuke coughed.

"Excuse my sister," Hinata said to Sasuke. "She's been having a bit of a vulgar streak recently."

"Obviously," Sasuke said, raising his eyebrows. Hanabi smiled innocently.

"Come on Sasuke-kun, we should go train and let them go to Naruto's after Hinata changes her dress. You wouldn't want it to get dirty while playing with soil."

"Do you even want to come?" Naruto asked to Hinata. Hinata smiled at him shyly. He appeared to be the only one who cared to hear what she wanted to do.

"Yes."

"We'll leave you with Naruto while you change," Sakura said. Hinata's eyes went wide. "I mean, after he leaves the room of course!"

"It appears that Hanabi is not the only one with a bit of vulgarity on the mind," Sasuke said. Sakura blushed, but said nothing. She grabbed Sasuke by his upper arm, and he let her lead him out of the room, followed closely by Ino and Hanabi. Hanabi looked livid about something, and Hinata was sure that her sister didn't like being kicked out without trying to cause more mischief.

"So what are you doing here, Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked sweetly as they traveled down the hallway.

"I got roped into coming when..." Sasuke's voice trailed off as they walked down the hallway. Naruto and Hinata stared at each other, and Naruto chuckled a little now that they were alone in her room.

"I guess I should wait outside while you change," Naruto said, and he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Hinata took a deep breath, looking at the door, thinking to herself that if she were on the other side of the door, and Naruto were changing, she would have activated her byakugan.

**Next Chapter: Of Mochi and Plants**

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think. - Jelp


	12. Chapter 12: Of Mochi and Plants

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 12: Of Mochi and Plants**

"So, I don't really understand why you were trying on a dress to show to Ino, Sakura, and Hanabi. Why do you do that?" Naruto asked as he and Hinata walked to his apartment in order to identify the newest plant he had acquired.

"Well, I wanted to make sure I looked good in the dress. The girls were g-giving me some feedback."

"Oh. I still don't think I understand why you'd do that," Naruto said, scratching his head.

"I can explain it again," Hinata offered timidly.

"No, I just think it's one of those female mysteries of life that guys will never understand even if you explain it a thousand times," Naruto said, smiling sheepishly. Hinata smiled shyly.

"Well, then I will just have to explain it a thousand and one times." (1) Naruto looked at Hinata, and then laughed loudly at her comment. Hinata turned her head down shyly and bit her lip, which still had the traces of make-up that either Ino or Sakura had quickly applied to her face before Naruto had appeared. She had tried to wipe most of it off, but since she had been in a hurry to leave her bedroom and greet Naruto in the hallway, she had only done a half-hearted job at it.

They walked in a comfortable silence to Naruto's apartment, his hands swinging at his sides as he glanced around him, apparently looking around at the shops they passed by. Hinata took the time to revel in how nice it felt to be around Naruto, and how comfortable the silence felt. In a way, she felt rather honored by his silence. She had a feeling that his chatty nature had to do more with growing up alone, and therefore getting all of his social time in as much as possible when around others than a truly chatty personality. The fact that he was quiet at her side let her know just how comfortable he was around her.

He smiled over at her as they walked, though he kept looking around, and it finally dawned on Hinata that Naruto was looking for someone or something specific.

"What are you looking for?" Hinata asked.

"I'm looking for a mochi stand. I know I saw someone set a new one up not too long ago," Naruto said.

"Mochi?" Hinata asked. It only partially dawned on Hinata that Naruto probably liked other foods other than just ramen, and that surely he had to at least eat other things other than ramen.

"Yeah, mochi bean paste is usually the best to eat after a bowlful of beef and curry ramen followed by a bowlful of shrimp ramen, but I'm kind of craving it now. Do you like mochi?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded, finding it amusing that Naruto still managed to associate other foods with ramen. Naruto grinned broadly at her. "See? I knew you were cool. You like ramen and mochi," Naruto said, making Hinata giggle. Naruto grinned at her. "You're really easy to get to laugh," he commented.

"You're just really funny," Hinata said. Naruto scratched the back of his head a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, I know," Naruto said, though Hinata could tell he was pleased and slightly embarrassed by her compliment. "In fact, I must be. I don't see you laugh that much when you talk to other people," Naruto said off-handedly as he put his hands in his pockets, once again looking around for the stand. Hinata bit her lip, and clasped her hands in front of her body, lightly tapping her fingers before she realized what she was doing and just clenched them tightly, and then bit her lip harder.

"I-I'm sorry," Hinata said. Naruto stopped moving his head around and looked over at her.

"What for? It's just sorta sad to think that you don't seem to laugh too much," Naruto said. Hinata smiled sadly at him. She had watched Naruto enough to realize that he was very perceptive when it came to a person's happiness.

"So where was the mochi stand you had seen?" Hinata asked, as she avoided his statement.

"I don't really recall. I was jumping from rooftop to rooftop on a way to a mission around 3:00am in the morning. I wasn't really awake yet, but I saw the guy setting up since he had a bunch of lights and what not. I'll never understand morning people," Naruto added, shaking his head. "It was sort of out of my way, you know? But since I saw the lights, I figured I would check it out just in case something wasn't quite right." Hinata nodded, smiling to herself. She wondered if that was the day that she had gotten up at 4:30 in the morning to train. She supposed Naruto would consider her a morning person then too.

"I like the mornings," Hinata admitted shyly.

"Really?" Naruto asked. Hinata nodded.

"I like the way everything is still asleep, and the sun is just beginning to brighten the earth. It's very peaceful," Hinata said.

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess it makes sense," Naruto said.

"Yet you don't understand why girls try on dresses and model them off to their friends?" Hinata teased. Naruto winked at her.

"It's really the girls' part I don't understand. But if you ever want to try on a dress for me to get my opinion, I won't say no," Naruto said, winking again. Hinata blushed, and Naruto laughed. "Easy to make laugh and easy to get to blush." Naruto grinned before he changed his tone. "There it is!" Naruto said as he pointed at a cart that was clearly selling the sweetened rice, mochi.

Naruto bought two mochi balls and gave one to Hinata. Naruto ate his happily, talking about what had happened on the mission that he had gone on after seeing the stand that early in the morning, not at all bothered to be not only talking while eating, but walking as well. Hinata, on the other hand, made sure that she waited until they were at Naruto's apartment before she finally began to eat hers. She watched Naruto enter his apartment, animatedly explaining his mission with even a few replays of some of the moves that he did. There was a part of her that wondered where he learned his mannerisms from having been an orphan. Sometimes she wondered if foreigners had raised him due to his sometimes-unusual habits.

Take the walking and eating for example. Hinata knew that would be perfectly acceptable in some cultures, but here, in Konoha, and a few of the surrounding areas, that was a bit of a social taboo. Naruto seemed either oblivious to the social norms of society, or he simply didn't care. It was somehow refreshing to watch, especially the way that he was always so animated. She smiled at him as he did a one handed back flip in the middle of his small living room in order to show her what he had done on his mission, thinking how grateful she was for whatever had caused him to simply be Naruto.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked, holding his body weight up with one arm as he looked up at her from his one handed position that he had gone into after replaying another back flip. Hinata laughed. "What's so funny?" Naruto asked, and Hinata laughed even more, aware that Naruto had no idea how cute he looked with his yellow hair hanging down, and his shirt riding up ever so slightly to give her a view of his belly button and the six pack that surrounded it. He swiftly repositioned himself so that he was standing upright again and looked at her curiously.

"I'm fine. It's just nice to have you tell your stories to me. I like how animated you are when you tell them," Hinata said. Naruto smiled at her.

"Do you always compliment people so much?" Naruto asked. Hinata shook her head. "It's just 'cuz I'm that great, right?" Naruto asked. Hinata smiled and nodded at him. "Wow," Naruto said, truly looking surprised. "No one has ever agreed with me on that before."

"But you are," Hinata insisted.

"You sure are nice Hinata," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head.

To Hinata, the time with Naruto in his apartment reminded her of what it had felt like when she had Naruto come over to her house for the day. The flow of the conversation had occurred all on its own, and she felt at ease talking to Naruto in this very comfortable and slightly personal manner. She was happy that they could talk like this. Everything they had been talking about up till now had made her completely forget why she had come over to Naruto's apartment in the first place. When his comment about how nice she was had made her look away in a moment of shyness, she had seen in the corner of his apartment what must have been the new plant that Naruto had said he had just bought recently. Thinking of the fact that their horticulture work hadn't lasted very long the last time she had come over, she didn't say anything about noticing the plant in hopes that Naruto had also forgotten why she had come over.

No such luck.

"So, this is the new plant!" Naruto said enthusiastically, pointing at the plant.

"I see," Hinata said. If she had been Sasuke, she would have made a comment about stating the obvious. But seeing as how she wasn't dark and broody and lacked the right anatomy, she didn't say anything about the obvious.

"Anyway, I can't tell if I'm watering it too much, or not enough, or if I need to give it more sunlight, or less sunlight."

Naruto and Hinata spent much longer this time trying to figure out what type of plant that Naruto had bought. In the end, it turned out to be a Plumeria (Frangipani) plant.

"Hmm," Naruto hmmed thoughtfully to himself. "I didn't realize it was a plant that would bloom flowers."

"I don't understand why you bought a plant that you weren't sure of its origins. It's a beautiful plant, is that why?" Hinata asked curiously, wondering why Naruto, who seemed to have had some experience with plants, would buy a plant that he had very little knowledge about. Even the last plant he had seemed to have some inkling about.

"Well, heheheh," Naruto said and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, as a slight blush began to appear on his cheeks. "I sorta had hoped if I didn't know what it was, you might come over and help me out again."

"You b-bought a p-plant as an excu-cuse to have m-me come over?" Hinata stuttered out, surprised. Naruto had a guilty smile tugging at his lips as he shrugged.

"Not really, but, maybe, kind of, yeah," Naruto confessed sheepishly.

"You d-didn't n-need that as an excuse to s-see m-me," Hinata squeaked, blushing furiously, while smiling widely. She wrung her hands together and bit her lip in her shyness. "I mean, you know..." she trailed off, trying to find the right words to express herself, biting her lip harder in her concentration wondering if perhaps he had thought more of that kiss than she had expected. He had bought a plant to get her to come over to his apartment. Didn't that mean he was going out of his way to try and see her?

"Hinata!" Naruto said sharply.

"Huh?"

"Your lip!" Naruto said, and Hinata realized that she had bitten so hard on her lip that she had made it bleed. Naruto came closer to her and cupped her face in his hand as he gently ran his thumb over her bottom lip, wiping away the drop of blood that had formed. Hinata's eyes widened as Naruto's hand dropped back to his side almost immediately. Hinata smiled rather shyly.

"Naruto-kun, I'm a shinobi. A little cut to my lip shouldn't warrant such attention," Hinata said, not sure if she should feel offended that he was treating her as though she were weak or ecstatic that he was treating her so tenderly and affectionately. Naruto laughed a little.

"Sorry, Hinata," Naruto apologized, his face darkening slightly, and Hinata immediately wished that she hadn't said anything, fearing she had offended him slightly. The tender atmosphere was broken, and he turned to smile at her, a little more gently, and less sheepishly. "You should probably get going. I need to go rescue Sasuke from Ino and Sakura. He came over with me because he's been trying to avoid all their personal questions, only to find them there. I feel bad for the poor bastard. Well, no I don't, but he's my friend and I should do what I can to help anyway."

Hinata giggled. _She_, at least, felt sorry for Sasuke, even if Naruto didn't, though she also felt bad for having broken the moment.

Naruto walked her to the door and made a motion back towards the window at the other end of his apartment.

"It's faster for you to go out the door, but I'll be going that way," Naruto said, nodding his head towards the window. Hinata nodded as well. Naruto smiled winningly at her as she exited his apartment, but there was no gentle kiss to her cheek at this parting, though his smile was still a pleasant thing to leave with since it was directed only at her.

"Bye, Naruto-kun!" Hinata said as she turned and left.

"Later Hinata!" Naruto called out the door to her before shutting it behind him. Hinata sighed, wishing she had first thought to perhaps schedule another date. Perhaps _she_ would be the one to buy an unknown plant the next time.

**Next Chapter: ****A Secret (or Two) Revealed**

(1) This conversation was inspired by a discussion between my fiancé and I as I wrote this fan-fiction since he sits beside me and watches me/reads what I type. I don't understand why he doesn't understand why girls try on dresses and get feedback from other girls. :sigh: Men. (He says, "Women.") :-)

Reviews are greatly appreciated! - Jelp


	13. Chapter 13: A Secret or Two Revealed

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 13: A Secret (or Two) Revealed**

As Hinata walked down the steps from Naruto's apartment, she couldn't help but gingerly touch her (now) slightly swollen lip in thought. She almost felt as though Naruto had kicked her out of his apartment, but she knew that really wasn't the case. Even so, she hadn't really wanted to leave just yet. Her mind was still on Naruto as she quickly came up with an excuse to see if she could see him again.

When Naruto had told her that he felt that he ought to save Sasuke from Sakura and Ino, she wished that she had asked to go with him. It would have made sense. If she went then she could help distract Sakura and Ino away from Sasuke. She would have had an excuse to spend more time with Naruto. Hinata felt herself wanting to spend as much time with Naruto, and even an extra few minutes would make a big difference to her.

Still, she felt it would be rather foolish of her to try and go through his apartment and try and catch up with him now, but that wouldn't stop her from following him so that she could at least see him a little bit longer.

Hinata picked up her speed and nearly ran down the steps in order to catch up with Naruto. Her mind was already formulating a plan. If Naruto asked why she was following him, she would tell him that she had decided she wanted to talk to Ino and Sakura about something (which she did, so it wouldn't be a complete lie), in order to tag along with him. As soon as Hinata stepped outside she knew that Naruto had already gone far ahead of her. She activated her Byakugan, and quickly followed his retreating form, hoping he would have an idea where Sasuke might have tried to shake off Ino and Sakura.

Naruto seemed to know where he was going because after about five minutes, Hinata sighed in relief as she saw the forms of Sakura, Ino, and Sasuke appear on the outskirts of her Byakugan vision. She quickly deactivated her byakugan lest Naruto suspect that she had used it to follow him – even though she knew he probably wouldn't have cared. Hinata's heart was racing, and she felt strangely exhilarated that she had literally chased after Naruto. There was something about the idea of going after Naruto that thrilled and terrified her. Perhaps it was simply because Naruto had been the constant in her life for so long, but for her to actually take her fate into her own hands and chase after Naruto somehow made her feel free.

Hinata put a hand to her heart, smiling as she thought of how lovesick and childish she must seem. Yet she couldn't help it. Taking a deep breath, Hinata slowed down even more as she sauntered easily through the mid-afternoon crowds around the Yamanaka Flower shop run by Ino's family. Hinata paused in the street as she saw Naruto and Sasuke already exiting from the flower shop, Hinata only a few feet from them.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked, spotting her almost immediately. Hinata's heart sped up, feeling as though he knew that she had been chasing after him, as though he had caught her in the act of doing something she shouldn't be doing.

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said back weakly in way of greeting. Naruto blinked for a moment, looking confused.

"I swore that you went the other direction when I left my apartment. How did you get here so fast? Did you run too?" Naruto asked.

"I...I..." Hinata tried to speak, but her voice failed her. It was such a silly thing, such a silly little thing. She had got caught up in the thrill of chasing Naruto, that when she actually saw him – as she had hoped she would – she couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Are you out of breath?" Naruto asked, concerned, though even Hinata could tell Naruto didn't really think she needed more air.

"I was going to speak to Ino and Sakura," Hinata said, surprising herself as she gained back her ability to speak. Naruto smacked his head, as though to say duh! I should have known that.

"Of course, I should have known," Naruto said. Sasuke looked at Hinata, raised his eyebrow in a very disbelieving sort of way, and then turned his head slowly to look at Naruto.

"You're an idiot," Sasuke said to Naruto. "She was clearly chasing after you to see you again. She likes you, dumb ass," Sasuke said bluntly, looking at Naruto. Naruto's eyes went wide for a moment. Hinata was sure her own eyes must have mirrored Naruto's, but she was in such a state of shock that her secret, her practically publicized secret to everyone but Naruto, had finally been spilled so easily.

Hinata wanted to die.

She had expected Sakura to say something to Naruto, perhaps Ino – or even Hanabi. But for _Sasuke_ to be the one to tell Naruto that she liked him? She hadn't expected that. Naruto looked over at Hinata once before whipping his head back around to face Sasuke.

"Huh?" Naruto said. Sasuke slowly shook his head once.

"Usurokatonkachi. She likes you, as in she has a crush on you," Sasuke explained. Naruto opened his mouth, as though to argue with Sasuke, but suddenly Hinata saw the click of understanding cross over Naruto's features. His eyes widened slightly, and his angry retort to Sasuke suddenly turned to one of surprise as he looked at Hinata. Naruto seemed so shocked at this revelation that Hinata felt her heart drop.

She had honestly hoped that he had figured out that she liked him on his own. She had hoped that the quick kiss to her cheek had been more than friendly, that he had given it to her because he knew she liked him and because he liked her back. Yet seeing Naruto's reaction, seeing how completely clueless he was as he stared questioningly at her made Hinata feel strangely empty inside.

"Hina-" Naruto began to say, but Hinata didn't wait for Naruto to say anything as she turned and ran.

Hinata felt foolish, and utterly useless. She had just had the courage to chase after him, only to have her courage crumble around her at his reaction. She wasn't mad at Sasuke though she was furious with herself for being so weak. Even if there was a chance that Naruto hadn't realized that she liked him with Sasuke's statement, there was no way that she could brush it off now. Fleeing from them had confirmed any doubts Naruto may or may not have had.

"Baka!" she cursed herself. If only she were stronger! If only she could have stayed and seen what Naruto had thought!

"Hinata!" Naruto's voice rang out from behind her, and suddenly Hinata felt Naruto's hand on her upper arm, slowing her down as she ran. They stopped suddenly in the middle of the afternoon throng of people in the streets of Konoha. Hinata looked up at Naruto, her eyes wide and scared as she searched Naruto's face. She knew that Naruto wouldn't reject her friendship even if she had a crush on him; he just wasn't that kind of person. Yet there was no way that she wanted to jeopardize what friendship they had with awkwardness. "Uhhh," Naruto said, releasing her arm, and looking at her still somewhat stunned. "Do you – do you really like me?" Naruto asked, breathless.

"Move it! You're blocking the whole area!" an angry woman yelled at them. Naruto glared at the woman and grabbed Hinata's upper arm again, gently guiding her elsewhere as he gave the woman a rude hand gesture. Hinata let herself be led to a little odango shop, where she and Naruto sat down.

"What would you like to eat?" a waitress asked as soon as they sat down.

"Privacy," Naruto said icily. The waitress looked affronted at his tone.

"Well then do it elsewhere if you're not going to eat," the woman said tersely.

"We'll have some teppanyaki please," Hinata said quietly. The waitress glowered at Naruto, and then nodded to Hinata before heading off to fill their order.

"She was rude," Naruto said huffily. Then his eyes softened, "Though I guess I was kind of rude too," Naruto added, sighing. He followed the waitress with his eyes, as though daring her to kick them out. When she disappeared in order to give their order to the chef, he finally turned his bright blue gaze back onto Hinata. Hinata dropped her gaze from his, and looked down at the table in front of her, looking at the wood pattern, seeing a dark swirl on the table. She once remembered her father telling her that the dark marks in the wood were where a tree branch had once stemmed from the trunk of the tree. Hinata felt like the blemish of dark wood on the table, feeling as though she were a mere branch, weak without the strength of the trunk of the tree. She wished that she could be strong like the trees of Konoha to stand up to the strong winds that blew through the area, but she knew that she wasn't that strong. Still, she couldn't run from telling Naruto any longer. He obviously knew now, and he had come after her for answers. She owed him the answers.

"Naruto-" Hinata began.

"I like you too Hinata," Naruto said, his face suddenly turning red as he looked away from her, his eyes suddenly fixated on the same blemish on the wood's surface as she had been staring at.

Had Naruto just confessed that he liked her? Hinata was sure she must be dreaming. There was no way that Naruto liked her as more than a friend, at least, not yet. She had loved him for years, and it just seemed too absurd that he would change his feelings for her in a matter of days. She shook her head, knowing she had heard wrong, needing him to clarify what he had said. He had probably said something like "I'm sorry that I don't like you too." Yes. That was much more plausible.

"Wh-what?" Hinata breathed. Naruto laughed a bit nervously, rubbing the back of his head a little as he smiled sheepishly.

"I like you too," Naruto said, his eyes turning up to look at hers. Hinata could merely stare at him, stunned. "I wasn't sure if I was going about it the right way at first. When I liked Sakura, I always asked her straight out if she wanted to go on a date with me. Somehow, I got the idea that that wasn't the way you're supposed to do it since she always turned me down. But, I mean, after we had such a good time over at my apartment talking about the Black Mondo grass, it was, I dunno..." Naruto said, losing his blush and looking at her more seriously. "I thought you might like me, but I wasn't sure. You didn't seem to react at all after I gave you a kiss on the cheek," Naruto said. Hinata knew she was dreaming. She had to be. This whole afternoon had just been too bizarre for it not to be a dream. To prove it to herself, she decided to do something that she would never be able to do in real life.

Hinata blinked her eyes once before placing her hands on the center of the table. Leaning forward she pressed her lips against Naruto's. Before her eyes fluttered shut, she saw Naruto's eyes widen before also closing shut. Naruto's lips were warm against her own. He pressed his lips a little more firmly against hers, moving his mouth against hers tentatively. She moved her lips back, feeling her whole body go pleasantly numb at the sensation of his lips on hers, and she slowly removed her lips from his, leaning back away from him slowly. Hinata felt her eyes widen as she realized that that had felt way too realistic – not to mention good – for it to have been a dream.

She had just kissed Naruto full on the lips of her own accord.

_Holy shit._

She suddenly realized that while she had been thinking those words, it had been Naruto who spoke them. He looked somehow extremely pleased with himself, and he raised an eyebrow at her suggestively.

Reality seemed to catch up in full blast with Hinata. One, Naruto knew that she liked him. Two, Naruto liked her back. Three, she had just instigated a kiss with Naruto.

"That was…_hot_," Naruto said, smirking at her. Hinata's eyes went even wider as she felt suddenly light headed. Before her world went black, she desperately wished that she had remembered to grab the pills that Sakura had given her.

**Next Chapter: The Secret Matchmaker**

* * *

Yay! Finally the truth comes out! Hope you liked this chapter. - Jelp


	14. Chapter 14: The Secret Matchmaker

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 14: The Secret Matchmaker**

Hinata woke up in her own bed, her sister's face staring down at her. Hanabi looked partially amused and partially concerned for her older sister.

"We need to work on this if you're ever going to have sex," Hanabi said, mischievously, her voice quiet as though someone else might over hear them.

"Huh?" Hinata said as things began coming back to her. She had been dreaming about kissing Naruto in the middle of an odango shop, and then she had dreamed she had passed out afterward.

"I don't understand why she passes out around me so much," Naruto's voice came from the other side of her room, and Hinata felt horrified as she realized that maybe, just maybe, she really _had_ kissed Naruto.

"Hopefully it's not because you smell, dobe," Sasuke's voice said, sounding quite amused next to him.

"Asshole," Naruto bit back.

"Fight nicely boys," Hanabi said, and Hinata could see her sister grinning in the direction toward where she heard Sasuke and Naruto arguing.

Something was still strange. If she really had kissed Naruto, how had she ended up back at her place? Obviously someone would have had to carry her, which meant that had probably been Naruto. But why was Sasuke here as well?

As Hinata realized that Naruto had probably carried her halfway across Konoha, Hinata's face turned a brilliant shade of red in embarrassment.

"I-I'm so sorry to be such a b-burden," Hinata said, as she sat up.

"You're really light, even as a dead weight," Hanabi said. Hinata's eyes turned to look at her sister. "I carried you here," Hanabi explained. "I thought'd look odd to have one of the boys carrying you."

"..._boys_...?" Sasuke grumbled, clearly not liking being referred to as a boy instead of a man.

"B-but how did you know?" Hinata asked, directing her question to Hanabi.

"After I told Naruto that you liked him, I figured I'd let Hanabi know. I was just tired of the two of you chasing after each other so pathetically," Sasuke said.

"It wasn't that pathetic. I thought it was kind of cute," Hanabi said.

"You could have told me you knew how Hinata felt," Naruto said, and Hinata saw that this remark was directed at Sasuke.

"Yeah. I did," Sasuke said bluntly. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"You're still an ass. I meant _before today_!" Naruto growled out. Sasuke shrugged.

"Just about everyone else knew. Not my fault you couldn't figure that one out. I don't know how you didn't see that Hinata liked you. You're so oblivious to some things, yet you're really perceptive on things I don't want you to notice like how you figured out that I was dating Hanabi the very next day after we had started going out," Sasuke said.

Hinata let the words float around without any substance in her brain before Sasuke's words finally clicked.

"_Going out with Hanabi?_" Hinata asked, incredulously. Hanabi turned to her sister, grinning almost sheepishly.

"I was going to explain everything to you, but I knew you thought I was dating Konohamaru. If Sasuke and I eloped, I didn't want them to accuse you of knowing too much and getting into trouble," Hanabi confessed.

Hinata stared wide-eyed at her sister, stunned. She was completely and utterly shocked. Her mind ran back over the things that Hanabi had said indicating her boyfriend – no – she had said they were engaged, so her fiancé – the past few days.

"It's funny because I never realized just how caring boys can be until my boyfriend showed me. My boyfriend doesn't seem like he'd be the type to be all touchy and feely and romantic, but he is. He's dealt with the death of family."

Hinata had thought that Hanabi had been talking about the deaths in Konohamaru's family.

"He's dealt with a lot, especially people just liking him for his name, but, he's special. However, he told me that it was Naruto who really helped him change into such a caring person."

Hinata had thought that Hanabi had meant that people had just liked Konohamaru for being a Sarutobi, not ever realizing Hanabi was talking about the name Uchiha. It was also strange to think, though it made sense considering their history, that Sasuke considered Naruto the person to have helped him change into a caring person; even if she did agree with Naruto and think Sasuke was an asshole sometimes.

Then she remembered that she had found it odd that Sasuke had come to meet up with Naruto after the family dinner at the Hyuuga compound, and she had expressed her surprise.

"Naruto told me he'd be here," Sasuke had said, as though that explained everything.

_"That's just an excuse," Naruto said, grinning widely._

Clearly Sasuke had used Naruto's visit as an excuse to come and see Hanabi. Then she remembered that Hanabi had talked about the fact that she wanted to elope with Sasuke, even though she had thought she had been talking about Konohamaru. She now realized how Hanabi had dodged her question just the day before.

_"Aren't you and Konohamaru moving a little fast?" Hinata asked. "Talking about marriage already?" Hanabi winced as she looked at her sister._

_"I promise that Konohamaru and I aren't moving too fast," Hanabi promised. _

No, it appeared that Hanabi and Konohamaru weren't moving too fast because they weren't moving _anywhere_, and if they had ever dated, they probably hadn't made it past first base. Hinata's face turned bright red as she realized that Sasuke was the one that she had heard in her sister's bedroom doing all those things to her baby sister!

"You're using pr-protection, right?" Hinata asked. Hanabi put her face in her hands.

"Of all the things to say when you realize I'm with Sasuke, and that's the first thing that comes spilling out of your mouth. Yes, we are. I'll get you to be a pervert yet; I swear I will. Naruto, you better help too," Hanabi added, turning to grin at Naruto. Naruto blushed, and rubbed the back of his head.

"You and Sasuke-" Hinata started.

"We're talking about you and Naruto," Hanabi said.

"No, no we're not. We're going to talk about you and Sasuke _now_," Hinata said firmly.

"It's Naruto's fault," Sasuke said, crossing his arms amused.

"I had no idea you were going to take me seriously," Naruto grumbled. Neither of the boys seemed to want to offer any more information, so Hanabi sighed and began to explain.

"What I believe Naruto's exact words to Sasuke were – which I liked so much that I quoted them to you I might add – were 'You need to get laid.'"

"I was _joking_," Naruto grumbled.

"I thought about it, and it sounded like a good idea to me," Sasuke said. Hinata's eyes widened. She would never have thought that Uchiha Sasuke had a...well...sexual side to him. He sort of seemed rather asexual in her mind. He always turned down every girl that she had ever seen attempt to ask him out. Hinata gulped, wondering how Sakura and Ino would react to learning Sasuke was engaged to her baby sister. She wouldn't even want to know what they thought about the fact that Hanabi and Sasuke were having sex. Part of Hinata seriously feared for Hanabi's life.

"So Sasuke actually started to look for a girlfriend after Naruto's little remark," Hanabi explained.

"I had never really found anyone in my year interesting in any way, so I started looking at the shinobi females from the other graduating classes."

"You did it so systematically. It wasn't very romantic, if you ask me," Naruto added. Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"I still don't understand how you figured out my system, and I still don't understand how you picked Hanabi as the girl that seemed to have the most common qualities with me, and yet somehow managed to miss that Hinata has liked you since our Academy days."

"Girls are harder to read than boys," Naruto said defensively.

"I dunno. Sometimes I think Sasuke has girlish tendencies that make him more complicated than a lot of girls I know," Hanabi said, smirking. Sasuke's eyes flashed in Hanabi's direction.

"Is that so?" Sasuke asked.

"Leave the sex talk out of this," Naruto said, somewhat amused. Naruto looked at Hinata, blushing slightly, "they argue so much all the time. They both like it."

"How do you know?" Hanabi said. "We had never actually met until the night you came over for dinner." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Sasuke's a dick. It'd only make sense if he liked that kind of thing."

"For best friends, you two sure insult each other a lot too," Hanabi said indicating the banter between Naruto and Sasuke, clearly amused with the two of them.

Hinata shook her head, finding herself feeling very odd that Naruto had known that her sister had been "involved" with Sasuke. She also wondered if that meant that Hanabi had known that Naruto liked her.

"I had tried giving Naruto some helpful hints, but I think he had trouble seeing that you liked him without telling him. My skills at being a secret matchmaker need to be honed," Sasuke said.

"Yes, because telling me that Hinata comes from a good family and has a tendency to like pathetic people was a really great hint," Naruto growled out. Sasuke shrugged.

"I thought it was amusing," Sasuke said. "You know I really don't find you pathetic."

"Yes, I know I'm not pathetic! That's why I didn't get the hint!"

"You were acting pathetic when you didn't realize she liked you, so I thought it fitting at the time I said it."

"ANYWAY," Hanabi said loudly, drawing everyone's attention back to her, "I think that Naruto and Hinata need to discuss a few things. Sasuke, why don't we leave them be," Hanabi suggested. Sasuke made a noise that sounded like "hn" and got up and exited the room, waving a hand slightly as a way of noting his departure. Hanabi smiled widely at both Naruto and Hinata.

"Hanabi-"

"And I'm just going to place this box of condoms _riiiiight here_. No particular reason," Hanabi grinned as she placed a box of condoms on the little stand right by Hinata's bedroom door, and then left the room. Hinata stared after her, her mouth open, and her face burning a brilliant shade of scarlet. She turned to look at Naruto, who was blushing slightly. He coughed.

"That was…random. You have quite an interesting younger sister," he said.

"You mean she's a pervert," Hinata said. Naruto laughed.

"Yeah, that too," Naruto said. He got up from off of the chair, and sat on the edge of Hinata's bed. He fumbled with his hands quietly as he looked like he was debating on how to start up a conversation with Hinata.

Naruto and Hinata sat in awkward silence. Hinata fiddled with the hem of the blanket that covered her on her bed. Naruto scratched the back of his head rather shyly.

"Those two are hell raisers, especially together it seems," Naruto said, grinning at her. There was another bout of awkward silence for a few moments.

Hinata was dying to ask Naruto so many questions that it was hard to figure out which one to ask him first. She wanted to know when he had started to like her. She wanted to know if he had wanted a serious relationship with her. She wanted to know even more about him. She wanted-

"Hinata?" her father's voice called sharply through the door. Hiashi didn't bother to knock as he opened the door without waiting for a response. Immediately Hiashi's white eyes surveyed the scene with Hinata sitting on top of her bed with Naruto sitting on the edge of it as well. Hinata's mouth fell open in horror as she watched her father's white eyes rake across the room to land directly on the box of condoms by the door, as though all parents had an instinctive radar installed in their eyesight to hone in specifically on items that no child wanted their parent to see.

"Hello," Naruto said, waving slightly at Hiashi, not yet aware of the impending explosion. Hiashi's pale face began to turn a shade of purple. "A-are you okay?" Naruto asked, concerned, seeing the changing color in Hiashi's face.

"What are _these_?" Hiashi's voice was quiet, a deadly type of quiet. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the exact reason why Hiashi's face was turning purple as Hiashi gestured rather poignantly to the box of condoms.

"Uh-uh-" Naruto began. Hiashi's face turned an even darker shade of purple in his fury, and Naruto's eyes widened as he saw that Hiashi looked ready to kill something. Like perhaps the male sitting in his daughter's room with a box of condoms nearby.

"They're Hanabi's-" Hinata began to try and explain, but her father held up his hand, cutting her off.

"That's enough. The wedding will be in one week," Hiashi said before slamming the door on them. Hinata and Naruto's eyes widened.

"What?!" Naruto asked incredulously, jumping up from his spot on the bed.

For some reason, Hinata didn't think her father was joking.

**Next Chapter: Together At Last**

* * *

The question is, _was _Hiashi joking? :-) You'll find out next week! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you thought! - Jelp


	15. Chapter 15: Together At Last

Previous chapter ending:

_"That's enough. The wedding will be in one week," Hiashi said before slamming the door on them. Hinata and Naruto's eyes widened._

_"What?!" Naruto asked incredulously, jumping up from his spot on the bed._

_For some reason, Hinata didn't think her father was joking._

**I Don't Know**

**Chapter 15: Together At Last**

The decorations for the wedding were magnificent. Everywhere Hinata turned, she felt stunned with the beauty all around her. Hinata felt as though in a dream, as though in a whirl, as she walked down the aisle, glancing over at Naruto who looked nervous, as though he were going to forget what he was supposed to do. Nonetheless, he looked extremely handsome in his pristine tuxedo. Hinata had never pictured Naruto wearing a tie as it was unusual for shinobi to dress so formally in non-shinobi wear, but Naruto pulled it off nicely.

The entire wedding ceremony passed by Hinata in a haze; she hardly heard what the holy man in front of her said. She watched Naruto most of the time. Naruto, for his part, seemed enthralled with the entire ordeal, and kept looking about at everyone and everything, grinning widely when he saw the faces of people he knew.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." Applause erupted, and before Hinata knew it, the bride and groom were passing in front of her, and Naruto had taken her arm.

"I can't believe that Sasuke and Hanabi had to get married so quickly," Naruto commented, as he loosened his tie while following Sasuke and Hanabi down the aisle. As Hanabi's older sister, Hinata had been the maid of honor in the wedding, and since Naruto was Sasuke's best friend, he had naturally been Sasuke's choice for his best man.

"Yes, well, when Papa-sama came into my room to tell me the wedding was in a week, I thought he was ordering _us_ to get married," Hinata said, her voice quivering at the memory. Naruto nodded.

"I didn't know what was going on. I didn't understand why he seemed so angry," Naruto said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. If Hinata had known that she had the anime-ability to sweat drop, she would have used it. She couldn't believe that Naruto hadn't connected the fact that her father had seen the two of them on her bed together, with a box of condoms nearby, and thought nothing overly damaging from it. Without the knowledge of said ability, however, she decided to close her eyes and remember that her newly labeled boyfriend sometimes had his blond moments. Heck, even she had those moments.

Since Hinata was Hanabi's maid of honor, and Naruto was Sasuke's best man, the two followed diligently behind the bride and groom as they walked from the outdoor ceremonial area, inside to where the reception was being held.

Hinata shook her head, feeling that two weeks ago, she never would have guessed that she would be participating in her sister's wedding as she married Uchiha Sasuke of all people! Nor would she have guessed that she would finally be dating her beloved crush of so many years. That part seemed the most unrealistic of everything that had happened, though Sasuke and Hanabi's sudden marriage was a close second.

Apparently when Sasuke and Hanabi had left Hinata's room, they had run into Hiashi. Hiashi had asked what they were up to, and Hanabi, being Hanabi, had said that they were off to have sex. Sasuke, being Sasuke, had apparently merely smirked.

Hiashi hadn't found it so funny.

Needless to say, he had given a hell-raising lecture on marriage and what not, and Sasuke had surprised Hiashi by saying that he agreed, and that he was going to marry Hanabi. Hiashi had been shocked and had tried to argue with Sasuke about it. The end result was that Hiashi was making them marry much faster than they had originally anticipated, and that Hanabi would be moving in with Sasuke and taking his last name immediately. It was not uncommon for women in Konoha to keep their maiden names, especially shinobi women. It spoke volumes to how much Hiashi was upset that he wanted Hanabi to take Sasuke's last name instead of keeping the Hyuuga namesake.

Even so, Sasuke and Hanabi had seemed thrilled. Sasuke looked even more smug and happy than ever (something that Hinata still found kind of creepy to see a smiling – not smirking – Sasuke) and Ino and Sakura were left livid and angry.

Hinata had been given the not so fun task of explaining to Ino and Sakura that it was her own baby sister of all people that had snagged Sasuke's heart. She was unsurprised (and a little sympathetic) when they had thought she was joking. Hinata herself wouldn't have believed it either if she hadn't seen it. In fact, she was sure that Sakura and Ino hadn't believed her until the last minute invitations were sent out.

Part of Hinata wondered why Sasuke had bothered to invite Sakura and Ino when they would clearly be heartbroken at his wedding. She realized that yes, Sakura had been a part of Team 7, but to invite Ino when the two of them were not so close seemed a little..._cruel_. Another part of Hinata wondered if her sister had been the one to insist inviting both of them in order to gloat.

Knowing Hanabi, that was probably the case. Hinata shook her head in thought as Naruto led her off toward the bridal party table. He pulled out her chair for her (something that Sasuke had apparently taught Naruto he should do, according to Hanabi). Her seat was next to Hanabi's and Naruto's seat was next to Sasuke's. Since Hanabi and

Sasuke sat in the middle, Naruto gave her a quick kiss (which caused Hinata to blush even after a week of such affection) before sauntering over to sit next to Sasuke.

With a wedding going on around them, Hinata silently wondered what it would be like to marry Naruto. Hanabi and Sasuke looked so happy together, and Hinata hoped that she and Naruto would one day be able to be as happy as they were.

"Where's your mind at?" Hanabi asked, and Hinata almost jumped. Obviously her mind had been elsewhere since her sister had surprised her.

"Thinking about Naruto," Hinata confessed. Hanabi grinned wickedly, and Hinata was able to predict the type of comment Hanabi would say before it left her mouth.

"I'm sure a week's worth of dating is plenty of time to wait before getting him into bed," Hanabi said, grinning.

"Why must you always insist on trying to get me to...to...you know what with Naruto?!"

"Geeze. You're an adult. You can say 'have sex' can't you?" Hanabi asked, rolling her eyes and sighing. "Really, have I taught you nothing?" Hanabi asked disappointed.

"Your vulgarity hasn't rubbed off, if that's what you're implying," Hinata said firmly. Hanabi grinned.

"I'm sure Naruto wouldn't mind a little 'vulgarity' as you call it," Hanabi said, and she sounded serious. Hinata turned away from her sister. In all reality, she agreed with Hanabi. She was sure that Naruto wouldn't mind having sex. But after only a week of dating? Somehow that didn't seem to be possible for Hinata's character. She suddenly blushed madly, thinking of Naruto naked.

She would need a stronger dose of the calming pills Sakura had given her if she were to ever want to have sex with Naruto. Hanabi was still egging her on at every possible moment, but she was grateful that Naruto seemed content to wait until she said otherwise. He hadn't even asked to French kiss her until she had suggested it just the night before. He was a bit of a dunce sometimes – but he was extremely observant and understanding when it came to dealing with people's feelings. Naruto would never push her, and she was grateful.

"You know you want to do him," Hanabi grinned wickedly at her sister.

But if her sister kept up those comments, Hinata was sure that she would either a) hurt her sister or b) give into temptation and pounce Naruto in the end.

"I'm sure with all this partying going on, no one would notice if you slipped back home for a bit more private time," Hanabi suggested.

Hinata decided to add an option c) hurt her sister and THEN pounce Naruto. But later.

"Not yet. Eventually," Hinata said, playing with her hands. Hanabi rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'm done trying for today. I've got my own guy to focus attention on," Hanabi said, grinning at her older sister before turning toward Sasuke requesting a dance. Hinata almost rolled her eyes as well, thinking that Hanabi _should_ be paying attention to her husband rather than her. After Sasuke and Hanabi got up to dance, Naruto moved into Hanabi's recently vacated seat.

"I think your sister is a bad influence on Sasuke," Naruto noted, grinning as he pointed to where Sasuke's hands were currently roaming as Hanabi sent encouraging words to Sasuke to keep it up.

"I don't think my father is so happy about it though," Hinata said, watching her father's face get red. Naruto turned his head to look over at Hiashi. He laughed a little nervously.

"He's kinda scary looking," Naruto said. Hinata giggled.

"That just means you better behave," Hinata said, winking at Naruto. Naruto turned to face Hinata, half horrified before realizing that she was joking. He scratched the back of his head and laughed a little.

"I like your family," Naruto said suddenly, watching as Neji danced with a scowling Ino. Neji seemed rather amused at her obvious dilemma of watching Sasuke, yet clearly enthralled that another handsome genius had asked her to dance.

Hinata watched as Sakura was walking from table to table, trying to avoid Lee. She wondered if Sasuke and Lee were even friends, and thought it would be funny if Lee had been party crashing. Then she wondered if Lee had been invited since he was a teammate and friend of Neji's. Hanabi also probably knew that Lee liked Sakura, and Hinata was not putting it past her sister to rub salt in the wounds of the two women that had stalked after her current husband for so long. Hanabi really was a possessive kind of girl.

"I'm glad you like my family, even though Hanabi has her quirks," Hinata said, smiling.

"And if your family accepted Sasuke, they're going to love me since I'm so much greater than he is," Naruto said, grinning widely, winking at Hinata. Hinata giggled again, and winked back. "I love how you agree with me when I say things like that," Naruto said, grinning even wider.

"It's true," Hinata said earnestly, Naruto smiled softly at her.

"You're so nice, and pretty. How'd I get so lucky?" Naruto asked Hinata. Hinata blushed, shaking her head.

"I'm the lucky one!" Hinata insisted.

"All right ladies! Time to catch the flowers!" Hanabi called.

"What?" Hinata asked, not aware that her sister was going to do the age old tradition of throwing her flowers. Hinata watched as Ino and Sakura in addition to quite a few other females ran to the middle of the dance floor in order to catch the bouquet of flowers. Hinata stood up slowly, and then decided to sit back down. She didn't need to catch a silly bouquet of flowers. She had Naruto, and that was plenty.

It was therefore a surprise when the bouquet of flowers suddenly landed directly in her lap.

"Hanabi threw it to her on purpose!" someone yelled.

"Not my fault I have a strong arm," Hanabi said, but Hinata could tell her sister had done that on purpose too.

"Err, why did Hanabi just throw flowers onto your lap?" Naruto asked, blinking owlishly at her. Hinata wondered if Naruto was serious or not, but realized that he had probably never gone to a wedding before, and explained how when the bride threw the bouquet to an unmarried woman, it was supposed to signify that the girl would be the next to get married. She then explained that some grooms threw the bride's garter for the single men to catch to be the next male to get married.

"Does that make sense?" Hinata asked, looking at the puzzled look on Naruto's face.

"No, not really. I mean, I get how it works, but I really don't get it, if you know what I mean. So if I catch the garter, I'm the next one to get married?" Naruto asked.

"Well, that's what the superstition is," Hinata explained. "But I don't think that Sasuke is going to do that. I mean, think of all the perverse things Sasuke and Hanabi would do if he had to remove a garter from under her dress."

"Uhhh..." Naruto stated, looking past Hinata's shoulder and pointing. "You mean like that?"

Hinata turned around to see Sasuke's hand up Hanabi's skirt, both of them grinning at each other in a completely and inappropriate manner for public audiences.

"Noooo," Hanabi drawled out, "that's not my garter. A little higher."

"I don't think this is going to stay PG-13 rated much longer," Hinata noted. Neji apparently thought the same thing as he went over and practically yelled at Sasuke for being so openly inappropriate with his younger cousin. Neji and Sasuke started arguing with each other – not loud verbal shouts – but that quiet manner that is even more deadly. Naruto rolled his eyes before getting up and going over to break up the "fight."

Hinata shook her head as she watched Hanabi shrug her shoulders innocently at Neji as he fumed at her and Sasuke quietly. Naruto was able to talk to the two guys, and they both walked away from each other. Naruto walked back toward her, grinning at her widely.

"Hanabi and Sasuke are trouble when put together," Hinata said, shaking her head. Naruto just grinned wider at her.

"Yeah, but they're really good at hooking us up," Naruto said as he pulled out a white laced garter. "Sasuke gave this to me when nobody was looking," Naruto explained. Hinata smiled.

"Does this mean that the two of you are next in line to get married?"

Hinata and Naruto both shrunk their heads down as they looked up at Hiashi who loomed over them, looking down at both the garter and bouquet.

"Uh...can we get back to you on that one?" Naruto asked.

"I better not see anything else inappropriate in your room Hinata," Hiashi said, his eye twitching slightly before walking off.

Naruto shook his head. "Yeah, he's definitely scary. Want to dance?" Naruto asked Hinata, changing the subject immediately. Hinata looked at her hands shyly.

"I don't know. I'm not very good," Hinata confessed. Naruto stood up, and offered her his hand.

"Me neither, but I do know we'll have fun," Naruto said, grinning widely. Hinata found Naruto's grin contagious, and took his outstretched hand. Who would say no to such a winning smile?

She knew she wouldn't.

**Next: Epilogue**

* * *

Yes…so this is pretty much the end. I really hope you've enjoyed reading this story! I'll post the (short) Epilogue tomorrow. Please let me know what you thought of this story! - Jelp


	16. Epilogue

**PLEASE NOTE: **Make sure you read chapter 15 as this was posted only a day later**.**

* * *

**Epilogue: Fifteen Years Later**

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" Eleven-year-old Uzumaki Harahui yelled as she pulled her blonde hair back behind her ears with a blue ribbon, looking at herself in the mirror with her white eyes.

"Yes Harahui?" Hinata said, coming into her daughter's room.

"I just stubbed my toe, and my sock disappeared!" Harahui said, incredulous. Hinata looked at her daughter curiously, before a wide smile spread over her face. Harahui looked at her Mom, clearly not understanding why her sock disappearing from her foot would cause her Mom to look at her so amused.

"Ask your father about it," Hinata said, smiling, before exiting her confused daughter's room.

**THE END**

* * *

(For those of you who don't remember, Naruto and Hinata had a conversation about how Naruto would spy on his kids by turning his clones into articles of clothing, and them making a comment about how funny it would be if the clone was dismissed when the kid hit their foot on something.)

Just as an FYI, I am working on another Naruto/Hinata fic. The working title is Desperation, but it will be for Mature audiences.

I really hope you enjoyed this fic! Please let me know what you thought. :-) - Jelp


End file.
